


Aftertaste

by fandomsunlimited, sauerkraus14



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Drummer!Alex, F/F, FWB, band au, bassist!maggie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-01-17 09:08:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 33,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12362412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomsunlimited/pseuds/fandomsunlimited, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sauerkraus14/pseuds/sauerkraus14
Summary: Having joined the rock band Krypton mere months ago, bassist Maggie Sawyer is still getting used to the feeling of actual stardom and band-life. She's loved music her whole life but this was her big break, her moment to finally feel like she was doing what she was meant to be doing.But sometimes things seem too good to be true. What she learns in the music business from fans, media, and her bandmates could change her life; it could enlighten her, it could destroy her, it could transform her into someone she may no longer recognize.





	1. Krypton

She could still hear the cry of the crowd as she collapsed on the raggedy old couch in the green room. 

She could still feel the bass in her bones as the rest of the band follow suit on the couch. 

She could still see the flashing lights and the excited faces of everyone looking up at them.

She felt more alive than ever.

She felt more at home than ever.

Maggie Sawyer had, finally, found a place in this world. Finally, among the four other members of Krypton, she felt like she could be herself 100%. 

She’d been lucky to score the gig really. The band had been looking for a new bassist to add to the mix and had held open audition a couple blocks south of the coffee shop that Maggie had been working at at the time. So she took the plunge and she went to the audition. The drummer, Alex, had immediately pulled the rest of the band aside and they signed her on almost on the spot. She only felt half-bad that she was the second one to go in and they had to turn away the rest of the hopeful musicians. Only half-bad though because then all of a sudden it was rehearsals and recording and small-town dive bars. And now, well, now Krypton had just played their first sold-out show. It wasn’t a huge venue but it was a ground-breaking milestone for them. It was the start of something big. 

But it was still new. New enough that they, Krypton, could go out back after the show to meet the fans that had stuck around. So that’s exactly what they were doing now. Maggie was reluctantly getting dragged to her feet by James, who was teasing her about all the cute girls that would be out there anyway. 

They’d gathered a pretty decent range of fans in the past few months, a lot of which were gay girls seeing as not one, but two of the band members were lesbians. Maggie didn’t know this when she agreed to sign on, but found out very quickly when Alex’s on-again off-again tattoo artist girlfriend Dani crashed one of their practice sessions, dragging the drummer out of the room for a solid hour to “catch up”. She and Alex had become good friends after that, bonding over all things gay and gathering pointed laughs from the rest of the band on a daily basis.

So Maggie laughed at James’s remark and perked up, shaking out her arms to readjust her leather coat and following the rest of the band, Kara leading the pack with her sister, Winn following, and James and Maggie bringing up the rear. The screaming was deafening as they opened up the back door, the venue security making sure to keep a few square feet clear for the entirely of Krypton to come outside and line up, ready with their sharpies and best smiles. 

Maggie immediately spotted a cute blonde waving her down and made her way over to her, taking the liberty of singing her poster and asking for her name. She told her to wait for her to finish meeting the rest of the fans and then they can talk more, to which she happily agreed. Maggie then fell back in like with the rest of the band, singing posters and phones and faces, taking pictures, and giving out hugs. It was all in a normal post-show routine.

“So, I’m in town for one night, I leave early in the morning.” Maggie said to the blonde after the crowd had cleared and the rest of Krypton had tiredly made their way back inside to pack up. Maggie didn’t have much, just her bass really, so she knew they could handle tossing it back into their transport van without her, this was pretty routine in any case. The blonde watched as Maggie leaned against the brick wall behind her, her iconic leather coast hanging loosely on her figure as she sized up the girl stranding in front of her. “I don’t want there to be any expectations about this. If it’s what you want. No pressure though.”

“Yeah, no, of course. I flagged you down for a reason.” She replied, blushing profusely and taking a step forward into Maggie’s personal space, the bassist immediately hooking her thumbs in the girl’s belt loops. “I didn’t think this actually happened, sounds like what you’re proposing is like something out of a movie.”

“One time deal darling, I’m yours for the night if you want it.” With that the blonde was nodding and Maggie was leading her towards the motel the band happened to be staying in that night. 

Maggie was notorious for fan hookups, and she wasn’t ashamed of it. The rest of the band knew and they just kind of decided to ignore it so long as Maggie didn’t bring it up and was respectful about their rule to keep it to nights they were lucky enough to have a motel to stay in rather than cramming into their tour bus. She agreed, of course, and had been happily getting her one-night-stand fix ever since.

It’s not like they could really say anything to stop it in any case. They weren’t big enough yet for it to be a problem with any kind of publicity and, well, everyone else had something else going on. Kara and James had been together since well before Krypton was even formed, and Alex had a girlfriend (although Maggie didn’t really understand the whole situation) who would show up randomly. Winn, well… Winn was single but he was enjoying tour life and had no qualms about it. And he kept his nose out of other’s business, something that Maggie had enjoyed a lot, especially when she’d crashed at his place for a few months when they were finishing up the second half of their latest album, right around the time she’d joined. 

* * *

The banging on the door almost made Maggie fall out of bed, and if that hadn’t woken her up then the yelling that came next definitely would have. 

“Maggie!” James yelled through the wooden motel door. “Get your damn ass out of bed, bus leaves in ten.” Maggie swore as she threw the covers off and tried to gather her clothes, which were still scattered across the floor from her night with the blonde whose name she’d already forgotten and kicked out last night. She had a rule that she never let hookups sleep over because more often than not she was heading out early and didn’t want to deal with the hassle of getting them out the door when she was leaving. 

Once she had gathered her clothes off the floor and shoved them into her duffle bag she was out the door, having put on some sweat pants, a sports bra, and a muscle tee she’d grabbed from her bag, not even wearing any socks as she shoved her feet into her combat boots. She ran out the door and to the from desk, practically throwing her keys at the receptionist and bolting out the front door and towards the bus, the engine already running. 

“Geez Sawyer, took you long enough.” Alex said as she lounged on the long couch towards the front of the coach with a book about molecular genetics in hand. How she understood that, Maggie had no idea. She simply flipped her the bird and grumbled as she walked over to her bunk on the bus and tossed her bag into it, not bothering with organizing everything now, knowing they had a long day on the road. She came back and sat at the table they had, Kara across from her, chowing down on a gigantic bowl of Captain Crunch and trying not to laugh at the state of Maggie Sawyer pouring coffee, clearly very groggy still. Alex spoke up again after allowing Maggie the appropriate amount of time to get some caffeine in her system. “Missed out on a sick game of Cards Against Humanity last night.”

“Did I now?” Maggie asked, turning to lean against the window and face Alex, who was stretching out and putting her book down, wearing almost the same outfit as Maggie, not having bothered with anything more constricting than sweatpants. “Well I had a pretty decent night, so I’m not going to fret over it. Besides, I’m pretty sure we heard some of the same things. That girl liked to scream.” 

“Argh, Maggie, come on, I’m eating cereal…” Kara groaned, immediately standing up and stomping to the bedroom at the back of the bus, one she shared with James. Maggie simply laughed loudly and eyed Alex, who was chuckling to herself subtly, knowing that she’d get a very pointed look from her sister if she outright went along with Maggie’s dirty antics.  
The bus roared to life for real then, pulling forward and onto the road, giving Maggie the cue to actually get up to start getting her things organized again. 

They had a lot of storage around their bunks in the bus, so the duffle bag she had was only brought out when the band was lucky enough to be able to stay in a motel for the night. It happened often enough that Maggie always had an extra toothbrush and toothpaste in her duffle as not to have to run back and forth between her room and the bus every time she realized she forgot something on the coach. 

So she got up, leaving Alex to her reading again, and shuffled towards the back of the bus, where there was a bathroom, a separate shower, four bunks, and the aforementioned room with double sized bed. She heard Kara and James chatting away in their room and Winn’s soft snores from his curtained off bunk; he’d probably fallen asleep as soon as she came stumbling into the bus. Maggie smiled at the little family she’d become a part of as she gathered her things and made sure it was all nice and clean so James wouldn’t have a field day over the messiness of the bus again. What he expected from a rock band touring in a confined space, she had no idea, but she usually kept her stuff organized just to ease his mind. 

“Hey Mags.” She heard from behind her, causing her to jump violently and spin around, coming face to face with none other than her band-mate, friend, and drummer of the band, Alex Danvers. She laughed at Maggie’s scare and side stepped her to reach into her bunk, which was on top of Maggie’s one, tossing her book onto the bed. “Winn finally got the GameCube hooked up properly. What do you say, Mario Kart?”

“I mean fine but last time you didn’t talk to me for a week when I beat you so none of that shit.” Maggie said, shoving Alex sideways and running back towards the front of the bus to nick the best controller before Alex could.

“It was like twelve hours!!” Alex complained, trying to swipe the controller that Maggie now held proudly but having no luck, settling for the next best and hooking them both up to the console, the TV flaring to life. “Better hope you’re not too exhausted from your night Sawyer because I’m bringing my A-game. Hey… What was that girl’s name anyway?” She added offhandedly, smirking a little as Maggie’s eyes went wide and she scrambled to try and recollect.

“Um…”

“Wow Maggie you’re such an asshole.” Alex said, laughing loudly as she set up a race for them both, choosing the hardest courses at the fastest speeds, knowing that’s what they usually played on anyway. “When you wanted to join a band did you think the groupie thing would actually be a reality? Or are the hookups just a bonus?”

“Fuck off Alex you know I’m serious about the music.”

“I know… Damn Sawyer relax I’m just kidding.” Alex said, raising her hands up in surrender of the banter. Maggie shrugged and sunk into her chair more, focusing all her attention at the screen now. She knew Alex was just kidding, but the way she said it, as if hooking up with random people and having casual sex was a bad thing rubbed Maggie the wrong way. Maybe it was because of her past. Maybe it was just because she was tired. Either way she probably shouldn’t have snapped so fast.

They played four races, each winning two in good spirit, although Alex claiming she was the better driver because she had outrun Maggie on Rainbow Road. Maggie denied her statement, declaring it was nothing but good luck, but let Alex have the gloating she so clearly wanted. By then they’d been on the road for a good half hour, with another eight to go before they arrived in Los Angeles for their next show. They didn’t have a show that night, which was nice, followed by a couple days off in the sunny city to do as they pleased. Their manager had planned that deliberately as most of the band had connections and friends in Los Angeles.

One thing that was nice about being a smaller band still was the fact that any of the group members could walk around large cities and generally not get recognized. It allowed for some semblance of a normal life, for which they were all grateful. Sure, it would be nice to be selling out venues and having the luxury of not worrying about paying rent, but that would come, and for now the five of them were just enjoying doing what they loved. 

“So, any plans for tomorrow?” Maggie asked Alex, munching on an apple she’d picked up. Alex looked up from her phone and yawned before answering.

“Actually Dani’s got the day off too. She was going to bring her needles and inks around here if anyone wanted to get a tattoo.” Alex said, tossing her phone on the couch beside her.  
Maggie nodded and considered it. She’d been wanting to get a tattoo for a while, and Alex’s hot-shot tattoo artist girlfriend certainly knew what she was doing. Maggie knew this because she admired Alex’s black and white floral sleeve and James’s broken map covering his shoulder on the daily. 

“You know what? I might as well. Free tattoo right?” Maggie said, laughing a little and immediately pulling out her own phone to start looking through all the tattoo photos she’d been saving up for years for when the time came. She pretty much knew what she wanted, but she wanted to have a last look just in case something else caught her eye. “What about the others? Do they want anything?”

“I doubt it. James loves his and Kara has never wanted a tattoo.” Alex said, crossing her legs and leaning forward to rest her chin in her hands. She shrugged and glanced towards the back of the bus where the rest of the band were hiding out, probably all of them sleeping by now. “Winn’s never expressed any interest either so odds are you can get a pretty decent tattoo done if Dani’s just working on you tomorrow. And then we can go show it off at universal, I was going to drag you guys there anyway, I haven’t been to the Harry Potter side of the park yet.”

“Nerd.” Maggie said affectionately, laughing as she started up another game of Mario Kart after shooting a questioning look Alex’s way, who nodded and turned her attention back to the TV, ready to tackle whatever races Maggie would set up for them next. She settled on the other top-levelled 16 race cup and smirked, knowing that Alex had a bit of a harder time when it came to playing so many races in a row. 

A long eight hours later, filled with music, videogames, food, and bantering, Krypton was rolling into Los Angeles. The five of them had spent a few hours sitting around the main living area of the tour bus working on a few new songs that might be going on their next album, when they had the time to record. James had popped out his Gibson and was spouting off riffs as the Danvers sisters were playing around with lyrics. Winn was chiming in every so often with tweaks to melodies and chord progressions. Maggie had listened to most of it, but was giving her two cents side of the equation, stealing James’s guitar from his grip every so often to suggest a little riff or two, while stealing some lyrics Alex and Kara were writing down to sing along. 

It was quite the process they had with song writing. Something very unique, because it really was a complete collaboration between them all. Sure, people would come in with full verses and bridges they’d written on their own every so often. But most days they’d all take the time to sit together, to work through each song; every word, every note, and every transition piece. It was a giant group project consistently, which really made them close and really pushed them to understand one another, both personally and artistically. 

The tour bus was parking up at just past seven in the evening, Alex immediately getting ready to go out and find Dani, who had been waiting for her all day. Maggie laughed as Alex fell over trying to pack up her books as the bus rolled to a stop more abruptly than the drummer was expecting. She glared at Maggie before launching herself at her, both of them tumbling onto the couch and laughing loudly. Kara smiled with endearment at them both as she sat on the opposing couch, feet up on James’s lap, who seemed to rather occupied with something on his phone. It was probably a basketball or a hockey game, so none of them were too worried about any of the annoyed faces he was making. 

“Okay, so apparently a bunch of my buddies are having a party down at UCLA with some of the seniors there. I’m going to head out there, anyone want to come?” Winn asked, pulling on a zip-up hoodie over his green t-shirt. Maggie, Alex, and Kara shook their heads and with that Winn was speeding out the door without another word. Alex and Maggie, now untangled and sitting in a civil manner on the couch, shared a look that screamed something along the lines of “he’s still such an orchestra nerd”. Because Winn was classically trained; he was the only one of the bunch to be. He’s trained for a few years in classical piano, before dropping the program when he realized that he wasn’t passionate about the classical aspect of piano, he much preferred to create his own sound and push the boundaries of music. 

Alex stood up then, nodding a goodbye when she got the text that Dani had just pulled up outside and was ready to go. That left Maggie, Kara, and James. 

Maggie knew they had places to be, she knew that the only reason they were still on the bus was because of her. 

Krypton had started four years ago. They’d been based in LA to start, which gave them a huge advantage in terms of venues to play at and different crowds to play for as the tourism industry had a huge turnaround rate and the tourist were always looking for the “local gems”. So they’d gotten a really, really good start in LA before they moved their base of operations to Brooklyn, where they (except Maggie) all lived when they weren’t on tour. So Maggie knew that Kara and James, just like Alex and Winn, had a ton of friends and connections around the LA area. She knew they were probably itching to go out and see some of them too.

And, of course, they’d invite Maggie. They’d been to LA before and they’d invited her many, many times. But Maggie had turned down Winn and hadn’t even glanced up when Alex was heading out so they didn’t ask, because odds are their bassist would decline the offer. But they didn’t go out either, not wanting to just leave her alone. They all knew exactly what was going on, and it was Maggie that broke the silence.

“So.” She said, both James and Kara lifting their eyes to look at Maggie as she talked. “I’m sure you two have a ton of places to go. Don’t worry about me, yeah?”

“Maggie are you sure?” James asked as Kara swung her legs off his lap when he leaned forward. 

“Yes. Yes, go.” She insisted, practically shoving them out the door now, all three of them having stood up seconds earlier. “I have stuff to do anyway, don’t worry about it, I’ll have an easy night in. Have fun.”

And so they went, leaving Maggie alone, leaving her captivated and terrified by the silence that surrounded her. She knew they wanted to make her feel included, and they tried, they really did. But she hadn’t been there at the beginning. She’d hadn’t seen the rise of Krypton in LA. She’d only joined a few months ago and she was still the outsider of the band. Which meant, of course, of course, they all had friends here, all had connections and places to go. But Maggie? Maggie didn't. So she forced a smile and she told them to go. Told them that it was perfectly okay because she had their latest music video to edit. And it was okay. It was. Until it wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter of this sanvers band!au. Stay tuned for updates as the time goes on, we already have a few chapters written. We are both happy to chat and answer any questions you may have, our links will always be in these end notes. Cheers, and enjoy!
> 
> Nat  
> twitter: @nerdalert_nat  
> tumblr: nat-on-the-run
> 
> Andrea  
> twitter: @sauerkraus14  
> tumblr: love-freeely
> 
> Artwork:http://archiveofourown.org/collections/SanversBigBang/works/12452580  
> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1248112821/playlist/2TBkvx0co107m1o4TeC83r


	2. Branded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tattoos and theme parks and something Alex didn't see coming.

She woke up as the sun was coming up, which was not something she normally did, not was being a musician who was up late playing music. But today was not one of those ‘sleep until noon’ days for Maggie Sawyer. 

No. 

It was 6:30 in the morning and here she was, lying awake in her bunk on the tour bus. 

Kara had started playing loud music a few minutes ago. She always wanted to get going with her day, which wasn’t unusual, but 6:30am was pushing it a bit. Usually Maggie could spare some extra sleep until at least 9. But apparently Kara had lots to do.

“Maggie get out of bed. Dani’s going to be here with Alex soon to get started on your tattoo before we have to leave for Universal.” Kara called from the front of the bus, where she was messing around with the coffee maker that only seemed to work when they needed it least. 

“Kara. It’s not even seven why the hell are you waking us all up?” Maggie groaned, pulling her covers over her head and rolling over, mumbling obscenities that no one would be close enough to hear. 

“Because you need to get up and James woke up when I did. Winn and Alex didn’t spend the night here so I’m only waking you.” Kara said, turning her music down now out of respect, even though Maggie was already rolling out of bed and looking across the aisle, confirming Winn hadn’t slept here. She stood up and stretched, seeing the bunk above hers, Alex’s, empty as well. 

“Okay, okay I’m up. Better have that coffee ready soon. I’m taking a shower.” She squeezed into the tiny shower room they had in the bus, cursing when she hit her funny bone on the doorknob as she tried to turn it on. With a short temper so early in the morning Maggie just sighed and got under the water, bringing it to scalding temperature. She grumbled as she washed her hair and scrubbed her body.

Maggie was the type of person to stay in the shower so long that she used up all the hot water on the bus. It pissed off the rest of her band mates but they usually preferred to shower after their shows so Maggie taking all the water in the morning wasn’t often a problem. 

That morning her shower was cut short when she heard Alex and Dani’s voices ringing through the tour bus. 

She decided to skip the conditioner, she could just stick her hair in a messy bun for the day. She turned off the shower and dried off quickly, changing into the clothes she’d brought it with her; ripped black skinny jeans, a black lace bandeau, and a dark grey cut-off top which sported a black and white skull on it, an American flag outlined within the skull. She knew she’d be taking her shirt off to get this tattoo on her left upper shoulder, which would extend up her neck, so she went with the bandeau to allow for easy access. 

“Maggie!” She heard from behind her as she stepped out of the shower room and was wandering over to the mirror by the bunks. She waved a hand over at Alex and Dani, who were sat in the main living space, setting up Dani’s tattoo equipment already. “Hurry up, I’m excited to see this ink!”

“Alex give her a break…” Dani muttered, chuckling to herself as she concentrated on getting everything set up just the way she wanted. Alex laughed and pecked the girl’s cheek before sauntering over to Maggie, who was trying to tame her soaking wet hair. 

Alex pinched Maggie’s sides, getting an elbow to her ribs in response as Maggie jerked away and glared at her. She laughed at Maggie’s response and was soon dragging her band mate from the mirror by her wrist and sitting her down in the chair Dani had gotten all prepped. 

“So, you ready? Alex showed me your photo so I drew up the stencil already.” Dani said, pulling out the stencil and waiting for Maggie’s nod before she placed it carefully on the girl’s shoulder and neck. Once both Maggie and Dani were happy with the placement and the look of it, she started up the needle. Maggie watched Dani get ready and realized that Alex was sitting on the couch on her other side towards her knees so she could see Dani work. 

“Hey Ally?” Maggie said, pulling Alex’s attention from her girlfriend and towards herself instead. Alex raised an eyebrow and the nickname she’d never heard Maggie use before and waited for her to ask her question. “Can you hold my hand? I’m nervous.”

“First of all, don’t ever call me that again. And, really? You? Nervous?” Alex asked, rather skeptical. Maggie nodded innocently and lifted her left hand, wiggling her fingers toward Alex until she grabbed it with her own. Alex laughed and squeezed the hand she now held, bringing the other up to hold it as well, both her hands wrapping around Maggie’s now. As soon as Alex’s attention was back on Dani’s work Maggie was smirking.

Smirking because she had a very high pain tolerance and that tattoo wasn’t hurting.

Smirking because now she had not only one, but two beautiful girls fussing over her.

Smirking because she knew she was a little shit. And she loved it. 

The three of them chatted away for the next couple hours as Dani worked on the floral tattoo Maggie had picked out. Alex, the entire time, was playing with Maggie’s hand subconsciously, intertwining their fingers as they talked. Kara eventually brought Maggie over an apple to eat because it was getting close to 10am and she hadn’t had any food yet as she’s been pinned down to get inked before she had had the chance. 

By 10:30 Kara was getting on their case about going to universal and Alex was replying with “just half an hour, just half an hour,” each time Kara would look over at them. Dani conceded to the younger Danvers’s demands around 11, saying that she needed a break and they might as well hit the amusement park because if she went back to the tattoo she’d need another three hours anyway. 

“Ugh Dani you’re the best!” Kara squealed, running towards the back of the bus, yelling. “James! Winn! We’re going, get your big boy boots on.”

“Big boy boots?” Dani asked, laughing as she watched Kara skip down the bus before turning back to Maggie and cleaning up what she had done of the tattoo. Maggie looked down at it in awe as the artist finished gathering her things up for now, not worrying about it being perfect as she knew they’d be back later. 

The floral design ran from the tip of Maggie’s shoulder to halfway to her ear right now. Eventually it’d wrap a little down her back and reach all the way up her neck, almost coming to the base of her ear. It was a gorgeous design really, she’d been thrilled when she came across it a few weeks ago. And Dani, turns out, was the perfect artist for the job. 

Maggie knew that already though, what with Alex’s full sleeve on her right arm, all completed by the beautiful blonde. She’d admired them for a long time before asking Alex who’d inked her up. Maggie, who had been more than thrilled to find out that her band-mate’s “kind of girlfriend” was the genius, started looking for potential tattoos the second she found out. And now here they were, a tattoo half done and a huge sense of happiness filling Maggie up. 

“This really is incredible work Dani, thank you so much for this, I know you probably have other things you could be doing. And, well, getting paid for.” Maggie said as she pulled her grey cut-off tank back on stretching out after the many house of sitting still. 

“Yeah well Alex suggested it so thank her.” Dani replied, shrugging as she stood up and pinched Alex’s ass on her way to the washroom. 

And with that the entirety of Krypton, with the addition of one spunky blonde tattoo artist, were headed off to universal LA to enjoy the beautiful sunny day. They spent the day on the rides and poking their heads into every nook and cranny of the Harry Potter part of the park, all of them having expressed their love for the series many a time on long nights in the bus. Hell, they’d even had a Harry Potter movie marathon once, much to the dismay of their driver, who had to deal with constant theory debates and “wow Ginny is so hot” comments from everyone on the bus, Kara included (which made both Maggie and Alex smirk a little bit at the singer’s obliviousness to her attraction to women). So, yes, they all thoroughly enjoyed the day off of work at the theme park.

At one point Alex and Maggie broke off from the rest of the group to get everyone food for lunch, not really sure where to go or what to get. So they just wandered around together for a while before they found a cute little burger shop that would do just the trick. Maggie grabbed Alex’s hand to drag her through the large crowd, Alex lacing their fingers together out of habit and following suit, laughing at the look of pure determination Maggie was wearing. They got in the ridiculously long line, bickering about what each of the waiting four would want to eat, neither of them having checked before they left. 

“Excuse me.” They heard from behind them, heads whipping around to lock eyes with an older woman who stood with who they assumed to be her husband. “You two girls make a very cute couple. It’s nice to see people like you out and about and happy.”

“Oh um-” Maggie started replying before being thrown off by Alex’s arm slipping around her waist and pulling her in tight. She shot Alex a look, which was ignored, and then turned her head back to the couple. 

“Thank you so much, you’re very kind.” Alex said, pecking Maggie’s cheek quickly as she continued. “We think its important exposure so we try to be as open yet modest as we can.” The couple nodded at Alex’s explanation while Maggie just stood quietly wrapped up in Alex’s arms. She felt weird about having Alex’s arms around her when Dani was just a few minutes’ walk away, but didn’t want it to change. There was something oddly familiar with the embrace, something that made Maggie feel safe. 

They were called to the counter a couple minutes later, so the façade wasn’t kept up for long. Alex dropped her arm and hopped forward to order for their group of six, Maggie standing back as not to crowd the already busy counter. Their food came relatively quickly and the pair were making the walk back to the tables that Kara, James, Winn, and Dani had saved for them. 

“So… What was that about?” Maggie asked as they walked, stealing a couple fries off the tray Alex carried with all the food. Alex laughed to herself before she answered. “Alex come on, seriously.”

“Okay well the way I see it, like I said, is that the exposure is good for the public.” Alex said, opening her mouth for Maggie to pop a fry in before she carried on with her explanation. “I wouldn’t do that with anyone but you and I are close and, conveniently, both gay, so I took the opportunity. By doing that, by accepting that assumption that was made we’re opening their eyes to the LGBT presence in everyday life. If I can do that in a safe space, educate those around me and make them see that this, what we are and what we do, is normal and not harmful, then I’m going to take that. Because there’s a lot of kids out there surrounded by ignorance. So while we can be safe, we can educate. I’m sorry if it was too much.”

“No- No, it was okay!” Maggie said rashly, not wanting to come off as cold about it all. “That’s beautiful Alex…” 

“I’m not all badass all the time Sawyer, you know this.” Alex said with finality as they sat back down with the rest of their group, Dani reaching up for a quick kiss before tucking into the chicken burger Alex had chosen for her. 

They spent the next hour enjoying the sun before Dani was practically begging them all to get going, knowing how much work she still had left to do on Maggie’s shoulder. Kara complained the whole walk back to Dani’s car about not having stayed very long, but got excited about other things quickly when James let her know that they were going out for dinner with a couple friends they hadn’t seen in months. They ended up setting off almost immediately after they got back to the bus.

Winn decided to hang back in the bus with the girls as Dani set back to work on Maggie’s tattoo, Alex lounging on the couch watching a Grey’s Anatomy rerun on their satellite TV. Maggie went back and forth between watching the TV and paying attention to the tattoo being marked on her skin, very excited for the final result. She teased Winn about his comments on the surgery, the pianist getting a little queasy with each scene, telling him to get lost if he hated it, which only made him more determined to sit through the show. 

“Hey, Alex, has anyone ever told you that you look just like Lexie Grey?” Maggie asked when they were on their third episode. Alex laughed and shook her head, not believing the observation Maggie was making. “I’m dead serious Danvers, you two could be twins.”

“Except for the fact that, you know, she’s a super smart surgeon and is, well, fictional. Nice try though Mags.” Everyone laughed along with that and Maggie dropped the subject as she hissed at Dani hitting her collarbone with the needle. Dani apologized softly but kept going, knowing that she needed to get the work done even if it hurt Maggie. 

By seven or so she was finally finishing the tattoo up, putting the final touches on the piece that had taken a total of eight hours to complete. Pleased with her work, Dani cleaned up Maggie’s shoulder and let her get up to take a look before wrapping it up. Maggie immediately ran to the mirror at the back of the bus and stared at awe at the fresh tattoo on her shoulder and neck. It was absolutely gorgeous; a black and white floral design that was just perfect. And Dani’s line work was absolutely incredible, absolutely beautiful. She thanked her over and over again as she was getting wrapped up in plastic wrap and given instructions for the healing process. 

Alex and Dani left for the night then, leaving Winn and Maggie alone. They played a few rounds of super smash bros before Winn decided he was going to take a shower and tuck in for the night, not having gotten much sleep the night previously due to the party his buddies had taken him too. So, soon enough it was just Maggie again. She pulled out her laptop and pulled on her headphones, getting into the grind of video editing. 

They were lucky to have talent like hers and James’s in the band, as James was a master with a camera and Maggie was a final cut pro wizard. Together they made absolutely stunning music videos without outside help apart from the occasional friend to help them film, with very strict instruction from James, of course. 

Kara and James came back tumbling in a little tipsy around eleven and went straight to bed, the bus filling with silence for the second time that night when they both fell asleep.  
Maggie stayed up editing, editing, editing. She loved the feel she was getting from this one in particular. 

James had found an old scrapyard that was the absolute perfect spot for filming. 

It had taken them a week of shooting to get all the footage that she and James had felt happy with, shooting scene after scene in various spots around the yard. On top of cars, between rows of them, and by piles of old frames, piles of rusty engines, and piles of random car parts. And although it had been a coincidence that James had found the scrapyard, it had really been the luckiest thing in the world as they were filming for their song called Car Wreck. And so, while the song wasn’t about a car accident at all but rather falling for someone who was unavailable, they’d all agreed that the car yard was a perfectly ironic location for the video. 

Soon enough hours had gone by and it was nearly three in the morning. Maggie yawned and sighed, stretching out and getting changed into her typical pyjamas of boxers and a massive t-shirt, putting on a Friends episode to watch as she was winding down and getting ready for sleep. 

That’s when Alex came in. 

Although she tried to be quiet, Alex was making a rather lot of noise and she swung the door open and marched into the tour bus, swearing to herself before jumping at the sight of Maggie sitting on the couch with an eyebrow raised.

“I thought you’d all be asleep.” Alex said, throwing herself down on the couch across from Maggie, her eyes bloodshot and her entire body looking absolutely exhausted. “Why are you up?”

“I got caught up editing the music video.” Maggie replied, watching as Alex took off her coat and threw it beside her, sliding down to slouch on the couch with a frustrated hand running through her short hair. “Alex, why are you back? What’s going on?” 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Alex grumbled, avoiding the question and shutting her eyes, trying to forget the night she’d had. 

“Alex…”

“I don’t want to talk about it Maggie! Let it go.” She stated again, sitting up straight and staring Maggie down, who put her arms up in defeat but refused to back down. Alex sighed loudly and let her body slump forward, rubbing her eyes before leaning forward with her face in her hands and her elbows on her knees. “I just… Things went to shit.”

“I figured as much. What happened?” Maggie asked, crossing her legs under her and pulling a blanket over her bare legs, tucking in to listen to what Alex had to say. 

She always found that listening to someone was important, she’d been overlooked a lot when she was younger, and so giving anyone who she was having a conversation with her full attention was something she found very important to do. 

Alex lifted her head and caught Maggie’s eye, revelling in the softness they showed. She could see the amount of care and attention Maggie was giving her and it warmed her heart to have someone care enough to listen to what Alex had to say. 

She let out a frustrated sigh and got up to go sit beside Maggie so they could talk freely but were keeping their voices low as not to wake the rest of the band. 

“Everything was fine. I swear it was fine.” Alex said, visibly calculating her next words in her head, trying to piece it all together into a cohesive story for Maggie. “So we were at a party right? Having a good time, drinking and shit with some old friends from a few years ago both of us know. Typical nights back in the day for us. I mean you know how it is with parties… Anyway we went out for Dani to have a cigarette and she turns to me and asks if there was any way that I could quit the band…

“Apparently she thinks we don’t see each other enough even though we haven’t been super, super official for a couple years. She wants to try again, for real this time. It was just so out of the blue you know? Like this is the most casual thing we have going on and all of a sudden she’s asking me to basically uproot my life from Brooklyn and my life on tour and recording to move back to LA?! It literally makes no sense. 

“Of course I said that I wasn’t willing to do that. Because Krypton is my life, it has been for years and years, and she knows this. I mean obviously she knows this, she’s been around for it all.

“So, yeah, I said no and she flipped shit and refused to listen to anything I had to say past that.” Alex said, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders as she told Maggie everything that had happened not more than an hour ago. “So I don’t know where we stand right now, I should probably text her in the morning or something… It just sucks you know? Because I get her frustration with my living across the country but it’s my life and it’s my career.”

“I’m sorry Alex.” Maggie commented once the room had gone silent for a few seconds. She’d made sure Alex was finished talking before saying anything, not knowing if there was more to the story or not. She put a hand on Alex’s knee and squeezed it lightly, giving her an empathetic look of understanding and support. “She shouldn’t make you give up your life like that. I hope things work out for you, I’m here if you need to talk about it again.” 

“Thank you Maggie.” Alex said softly, yawning and peeking outside at the pitch black night, finally realizing just how late it was. 

She suggested they both go to bed then, Maggie agreeing and getting up and hopping right into her lower bunk and shutting the curtains that hung, falling asleep almost instantly. Alex changed and got ready for bed herself, sporting the classic pyjamas pants and tank top look as she always did to sleep. She climbed into her bunk five minutes later and pulled out a book to read for a while to try and calm her mind, forcing herself to avoid the images of the events of the night still burning in her mind. 

Alex gave up a while later, tossing her book with frustration, not having read a single word even though she’d been “reading” for a solid ten minutes. She lay down and shut off her light, staring at the ceiling she couldn’t see, her eyes refusing to shut. So she opted for the one thing that could always make her sleep, the one thing she’d been able to count on to fall asleep since she was a kid: classical music. The contrast of it to Krypton’s music was hilarious, but Alex had always loved it, and, as expected, she was drifting to sleep mere minutes later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nat  
> twitter: @nerdalert_nat  
> tumblr: nat-on-the-run
> 
> Andrea  
> twitter: @sauerkraus14  
> tumblr: love-freeely
> 
> Artwork:http://archiveofourown.org/collections/SanversBigBang/works/12452580  
> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1248112821/playlist/2TBkvx0co107m1o4TeC83r


	3. Mavericks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex is thrown off by a nosey reporter and confronts Maggie about some rumours, a response leading to something quite unexpected.

LA was beautiful, it really was, until it was too hot. And that day? That day was too hot. The entirety of Krypton tried to keep cool in the bus; with fans on, the AC cranked to the max, and the least amount of clothes worn possible while still keeping a little semblance of decency. But nothing was working, so J’onn, their manager, suggested they try to get to their venue early. They were lucky, really lucky, when the owner of the bar they were playing at was just about to get into his car as they pulled up. After a few minutes’ discussion, led by J’onn himself, Krypton was allowed inside with the promise that they’d keep the place in top shape. 

It was their second of four stops in California, the starting state for their trans-American tour. They had many, many shows to play, but somehow, in the city of angels, this one seemed one of the most important. Because, ultimately, this is where the band had gotten its start; playing in dive bars and in the early afternoon slot at no-name music festivals, Los Angeles had been the beginning of something great. 

It had been Alex, Kara, and James to start, the three of them managing fairly well for a while before James called up his buddy Winn to add depth with a keyboard and they’d found a bassist named Brian to join the crew (replacing Kara who now had taken role of rhythm guitarist instead). Together the five of them had worked hard to make a name for themselves. Well, most of them. Brian was touch and go when it came to reliability, and that’s why, in the end, they’d booted him from the band and auditioned for a new bassist, Maggie joining the crew not long after he left. 

LA was important to the original four, and Maggie knew this, so she was just as nervous and just as excited as they were. She matched their vibe and was ready for their hometown crowd, ready for the fans that had been there since the beginning, ready for the ones that had absolutely swooned over Maggie when she’d joined, ready for the girls who’d be waiting at stage door. She was also ready to get out of the blistering heat that had been pounding them since sunrise.

When the go-head reached the bus, the five of them immediately got up and started unpacking their gear, setting up the stage even though the show was hours and hours away. They relished in the top quality air-con the pub provided, happy to be on stage and doing sound check at eleven in the morning so long as they had a place to cool off. 

“Right, so, I thought we could do a special shout out to the crowd tonight, thanking them for everything and for being there from the beginning.” James said as they hung around in the green room after they were all prepped and ready for the show that night. It was just past one in the afternoon and all five of them were sharing a massive pizza. James and Kara had stolen the couch, the blonde propping her feet up on her boyfriend’s lap as per usual. Alex, Maggie, and Winn were dispersed on the old but comfortable chairs that they’d pulled from what seemed to be a meeting room next door, making a make-shift circle around the coffee table whereon the pizza sat. 

“Imean sounsgud ta-me” Winn replied inaudibly as he stuffed his face with food, sitting forward on the chair he’d claimed, finishing his bit and clearing his throat before trying again. “Sounds good to me.”

“Okay great. And I was thinking that maybe we could stop by the merch table before the shows starts to sign some autographs on CDs and t-shirts too?” James added, his hand tracing circles absent mindedly on Kara’s thigh as he spoke. “I feel like that’s one way we can make this show a little more special for the fans. For the ones who’ve been here since the start. I know it’s not much, but it’s a possibility.”

“Dude, I’m in if everyone else is. I love any chance we get to meet the fans.” Maggie commented, shrugging her shoulders and hoping, more than anything, that these long-time fans would welcome her with open arms. It was her first show with them after all.

The signing, the show, the meet and greet, were all absolutely amazing. Maggie had the absolute time of her life meeting long-time fans and really, really connecting with them for the first time. Sure, they all interacted on twitter with their fans, but to have the original crowd actually surrounding her and acknowledging her part in the band while also assuring her that they thought she was a perfect fit was an experience unlike any other. 

Maggie was grinning from ear to ear as they finally ended off the night, unable to sleep as they got in the bus for a long night on the road. She stayed up going over it all: the crazy amount of hugs she’d gotten when they came out before the show, the screaming of the crowd as Krypton played all their most popular songs and even took some suggestions from the crowd, and, even, almost crying as one girl came up to them all and explained how they’d saved her life with their music. It was safe to say they were all absolutely honoured and James even suggested taking her and her friends back to the green room so they could have a proper chat, which ended up lasting over an hour.

It was all amazing, and Maggie was finally starting to feel like this is exactly what she was supposed to be doing. Sure, she’d felt at home with Krypton for a while now, but the music? She’d always been scared to take the plunge and commit full-time, scared that it would break and bust. But hearing someone tell her that she’d changed her life was a whole new ball-park. It was a game-changer and in that moment she knew that music was all she was ever going to do from then-on. 

After their show based in LA, the tour was a whirlwind of travel and music. J’onn had set them up for one hell of a trans-American road trip, with the band stopping in every city they could, having the luxury of playing smaller venues, which meant more stops and more shows. So they hopped on the bus and headed north, playing two shows in San Francisco over the next two nights. They made the quick trip to Sacramento and had a day off there before their show, which was very convenient for Maggie, who happened to have a couple buddies she knew there. 

They’d gone to high school together back in Nebraska and the pair, Frankie and Owen, had skipped town as soon as senior exams were over, heading right for the west coast. They originally landed in San Diego but moved to Sacramento a few years later, Owen having gotten a job offer for a large company in video game design based there after they’d seen his independent work. Frankie followed, wanting to stay close to the one person they knew well in California, picking up a bartending job at one of the high-end pubs. 

So Maggie was off for the day as soon as they pulled up, bouncing on her feet with incredible animation. Everyone thought it was absolutely adorable seeing as Maggie had always been the one to keep to herself when it came to emotions. Not that day though. That day she was so very excited to catch up with the friends she’d been missing tremendously for a long, long time. Maggie was off and the rest of the crowd decided to head downtown for a bite to eat, decidedly bored with staying on the tour bus on a daily basis. They’d been to Sacramento a few times so they knew their way around fairly well. Because of that Winn suggested they hit up their favourite pizza place in the core, Kara yelling in agreement before James or Alex could even put their input in. They laughed at their vocalist and nodded along anyway, joining her in the SUV they had access to. 

“I still can’t get over the fact that you smother your pizza in ranch, Winn.” Alex said, making a disgusted face as she watched the boy she considered to be as close to a brother as she could get happily bite into a huge slice of pizza, ranch sauce absolutely covering his face. “I mean, okay, I get a little bit but c’mon dude you overdo it.”

“You’re just pissed because you don’t love something as much as I love ranch and pizza.” He replied smugly, grabbing three napkins to clean off his face, knowing full well that he’d be using them all. 

“Yeah. Okay, sure Winn.” She said, laughing at the mess he was making even with the crazy amount of napkins at his disposal. James coughed then, pulling everyone’s attention his way. Their mood dropped when they met his eye, knowing that look almost better than any other look. He wasn’t mad, not quite, but he was clearly annoyed and had some important news.  
“J’onn came to me earlier and gave me this.” James said somberly, tossing down a copy of White Noise Magazine, a small-time music magazine that focused mainly on promoting smaller bands but was notorious for gossip. Winn, Kara, and Alex all looked down at it and then back up at James. “There’s a particular article in there about one Maggie Sawyer of Krypton. Kara, care to give it a read for us?”

“Maggie Sawyer of Krypton, an indie-rock band based in Brooklyn, New York has been quite the topic of conversation for a large part of the band’s fan base in the past little while.” Kara started, her eyebrows furrowing as she read ahead. She sighed but kept reading, under watchful eye of both Alex and Winn. “Word has it that the new bassist has made a habit of hooking up after shows, but not with a partner, she seems to favor more excitement than that. According to fans on twitter, Sawyer has made new “friends” in every city the band has made a stop in. One fan said: ‘Favorite part of the Krypton concert? The night spent with Maggie Sawyer.’ Another tweeted: ‘Her hands are even better than they look on stage ;)’ It seems as if the band can’t get their bandmate under control. So the question is, do they want to? Or are they using these hookups to gain attention? Either way, it’s a no from us.”

“Yeah. So.” James said, leaning forward to rest his elbow on the table, his hands clasped together tightly as he took a deep breath and looked at Alex. “I hate asking Al, but you are closest with Maggie, any way you can talk to her?”

“Me?” Alex said, raising an eyebrow. “James, we’re all close with Maggie. We’re like a family, all five of us. Don’t make it out like we’re not. I’ll do it, of course, but don’t undermine her position in this band.”

“I’m sorry, you’re right. But yeah, can you have a chat with her?” James asked sincerely now, leaning back in his chair and nodding slowly, picking up the magazine and scoffing. “This is not what we need right now. Not right as our tour is starting…”

“I’m sure she means no harm James” Kara said, rubbing his arm and looking at Alex and Winn sadly. “It’s not like she’s really doing anything wrong anyway. She’s all about consent, we know this from our late night talks. This is just gossip shit. I agree we need to chat to her about it, but it’s not her fault.” 

“I know… I do. I’m just worried because we’ve worked too hard on this.” James said, crossing his arms across his chest and sighing heavily, shrugging and leaning back on two legs of his chair. They finished up their meal then and headed for a walk around the downtown area of Sacramento. It was a light and friendly afternoon considering the topic of discussion at lunch. Alex let them know that she wouldn’t be talking to Maggie at least until their next show, in Portland, because the bassist needed this bout of happiness. Not that she wasn’t happy normally, she was, but seeing two long-time friends was a different story. Alex wanted to give her that, at least. 

Maggie joined back up with them later that evening and was absolutely radiating cheerfulness when she walked in. She sat down on the couches with the rest of them and immediately recounted her day, going on and on about both of her friends, barely stopping for breath as she did. They all listened happily even if the conversation they’d had earlier was on the back of all their minds. All of them went to bed pretty quickly after that, knowing they were up early (early for them anyway) for sound check and a quick rehearsal to review the changes they’d made in their set-list before their show.

The show in Sacramento was absolutely insane, the crowd one of the most animated one’s they’d had in a while. Not that all the shows weren’t crazy and fun, but for some reason these fans seemed to be on an entirely new level. Kara was glowing, alive with ambition, and the rest of the band followed suit. They got on the bus right after the show, knowing they had a nine hour drive before their show in Portland the next night. It was a bit of a tight squeeze in terms of scheduling but it had been all that worked when planning. The road was long but, thankfully, there were no detours or roadblocks on the way up through California and into Oregon. They arrived in Portland as the band was waking up, ready for a new day. It was a relaxed one until about two in the afternoon, sound check a little later than usual as the show started at 10:00pm rather than their normal 9:00 start time due to venue regulations.  
J’onn waltzed into the bus while they were eating breakfast, pulling Alex aside to ask her if she was up for a solo interview just after lunch time that day. The interviewer had requested Alex personally. She was an excellent conversationalist, the best of the five of them, so it wasn’t an unusual demand. 

“Yeah, yeah of course. Any prep?” She asked their manager, getting a negative response in return, meaning that it’d be quick and painless, just the kind of interview Alex liked.  
She was left alone in the bus after lunch to wait for the interviewer while the rest of Krypton made their way inside to set up. She heard the knock on the door not long after the rest of the band had left and went to open it up to let in a gorgeous dark-haired reporter, who wore a red pencil skirt and a black top, smiling politely as she was invited into the tour bus. 

“Alex, so nice to meet you.” The woman started, extending a hand and shaking the drummer’s. Alex invited her to sit down at the table they had as she introduced herself. “Marion Holloway, thank you for having me, I really do appreciate it.”

“Of course, always happy to talk!” Alex said automatically. She’d done a million and a half of these interviews so she knew exactly how to act and what to say. She sat down across from Marion and smiled, leaning forward and trying to keep her focus, knowing that any slip-up on her part would be scrutinized. “Who are you reporting for again? I must have missed it when my manager told me you were coming.”

“Oh just some little magazine, you’ve probably never heard of it.” Marion said, avoiding the question entirely as she pulled out two notebooks; one with questions scattered across the pages and an empty one which, Alex assumed, was to write down her answers in. 

“Right, okay. Well shoot then, I’m ready!” Alex replied enthusiastically, flashing a fake smile to the reporter, one she reserved for situations just like these, situations wherein she wasn’t exactly enthused to be there but knew it needed to be done. Marion smiled and looked down at her set of questions and started right away, her aloof expression turning into one of utmost professionalism. 

“How did Krypton come to be?” She asked. A simple but common question Alex had replied to many times before. She’d come to standardize her answer to it knowing that it was coming whenever they were called in to talk about the band and the music specifically. 

“Well that's a long story really.” Alex said, laughing a little forcibly as she pretended to think about the right way to phrase it. She knew it was a little excessive but it always made the interviewer more invested in her answer. “But to make a long story short it started when Kara and I moved out of our childhood home in Midvale. We headed, with James, out to LA to pursue our passion for music. Soon we recruited Winn, and our old bassist Brian. The rest is pretty much history, we started playing in dive bars and small clubs soon after that, as we were recording our first album, which is self-titled.”

“And then Brian left, correct?” Alex nodded, sparking Marion to continue with the second half of her question, “When he left and Ms. Sawyer joined, was it a big transition?” Alex hadn’t been expecting that question to come up right away. Sure, they’d been asked it many, many times, but always as a group, she’d never talked about Maggie on her own before. So, this time, she really took her time before answering.

“Honestly? No. We knew she was the right fit as soon as she walked into the open auditions we held in Philly.” Alex told Marion truthfully, smiling at the memories of the audition as well as the first few months that Maggie had been in Krypton, getting used to their feel and their vibes as a band. “She was the second bassist to come into the audition and we, well me mostly, knew right away that we’d found the one. It’s been really great to have her join the family. She fits in flawlessly.”

Marion smiled as she kept writing down Alex’s answers. She smirked as she looked at the next question in her notebook. Alex’s smile faltered as she asked the question. She should have seen it coming honestly, but she didn’t, and she almost let her guard slip when it was asked. 

“And this new rumour about her and her excursions with fans? How has this been affecting things?” Marion asked, raising an eyebrow as she watched Alex search for words, hesitating far longer on this question than she had any other.

“Oh. Well… I can’t really confirm or deny that honestly. It’s not my place and, well, I’m not Maggie.” Alex said assertively after her lapse in confidence. The reporter nodded slowly and wrote down her response, not looking entirely convinced that the answer she’d received was a truthful one. 

“So you’re not upset that your friend is out every night with a fan?” Marion asked, digging deeper into the rumours that had been spread, clearly knowing that Alex wasn’t revealing it all. She figured that if she kept pushing maybe the drummer might break. “Is this behaviour encouraged? Krypton is all of a sudden getting a lot of attention, do you think these fan encounters have anything to do with it?”

“I think that you’re getting too wrapped up in what is nothing but rumours.” Alex replied, her coolness having returned with a little spite mixed in as she eyed down the reporter, knowing she was nothing more than the face of a gossip magazine now. “Our music speaks for itself, I stand by that, and I know the rest of Krypton does too. I can tell you that Maggie is as passionate about music as the rest of us are, and that’s really all that matters in my mind. Ultimately, it’s what we love to do, it’s what we always do, and it’s what we’re going to keep doing, rumours be damned. So whatever rumours, whatever drama might come our way, we know our priorities. Look, Marion, it’s been nice to chat but I really need to get to sound check. Have a nice day.” 

Alex left without another word, angry with the interview but also pissed off at Maggie; who’d been sleeping with so many fans that, apparently, they had a running conversation on twitter about it. She knew this was going to be the night she confronted her because it had to stop. It had to stop because constantly getting bad press wasn’t going to help them maintain a good reputation as a band, it wasn’t going to help them gain traction, and it certainly wasn’t going to help keep up the credibility they’d built over the years. 

Alex played angrily that night, the vigour in the drums far outshining any of the other instruments, her annoyance with the afternoon not having worn off at all through sound check and their pre-show meal/conversation. Everyone knew something was off but no one dared mention it, not to Alex. They knew she could handle her own and that she’d explain when she was ready. So they left Alex to her own devices, hoping that the tension she’d been holding since the interview would fizzle out soon.

Krypton, as per usual, headed out the stage door after the show to meet the fans. Alex put up a guard and put on a smile, going through the motions that came with a meet and greet. She took photos and signed CDs, happily engaging with their fans, her mind taken off the conversation she’d had with Marion that afternoon for a while, for which she was grateful. 

But then she saw Maggie eyeing a girl on the edge of the crowd.

She saw her walk over with all her classic swagger and start to flirt.

She saw her laugh a little too hard and linger a little too long.

So Alex took measures into her own hands and marched right over as well, thanking the fan for coming out to see them and signing the poster she’d brought with her before grabbing Maggie by the arm and basically dragging her back inside. Kara, James, and Winn all saw the interaction and knew what was about to go down. So they excused themselves to go pack up as Alex and Maggie were left behind in the back hallway of the small concert hall, concrete walls and steel pipes surrounding them.

“You have to stop sleeping with fans.” Alex said abruptly, dropping Maggie’s arm, her hands strong on her hips as to give her authority. Maggie just laughed and cocked her head sideways.

“Are you serious?” She asked, slightly offended at the confrontation seeing as her band mates had all previously agreed to stay out of her business. When Alex didn’t reply she scoffed and shook her head. “Wow. Okay. I see how it is.”

“It’s starting to become a problem Maggie!” Alex said, having raised her voice now, trying to be very clear that she was indeed serious about this. “It’s just going to keep getting worse. Did you see the article in White Noise? Did you even know about the conversations on twitter? Apparently you’ve got a running hashtag going around Mags. Hear about that? Sleeping with Sawyer. Nice ring to it, hey?” Maggie just stared at Alex, feeling rather betrayed; completely caught off guard at the suddenness of this conversation, at the rashness of the attack. 

“Fuck. Off. Alex.” Maggie said, taking a step forward as if to prove she wasn’t scared, raising her own voice to match her band mate’s. “You know you could have asked right?! Instead of going all hard ass on me you could have fucking asked! I thought we were good enough friends for that. I thought I could trust you in telling me what was bothering you.”

Alex stared at Maggie then, both their breaths ragged from the high emotions and the yelling. She stared at Maggie for a few seconds, watching as the bassist ever so slightly lowered her guard. That’s when Alex took the plunge. She jumped forward and grabbed Maggie’s face, crashing their mouths together. And then, in a desperate attempt to try to outrun the sexual tension she pulled back, her efforts amounting to nothing as Maggie’s eyes were on fire now, alive with raw need as she looked at Alex Danvers.

“Alex-” Maggie started but was cut off when Alex kissed her again just as passionately, grabbing her hips instead of her face this time and pushing her backwards. Pushing her backwards until Maggie’s back was hitting the concrete wall behind her, knocking the breath from her lungs but not winding her enough for her to stop. Her hands were all over Alex now; pulling at the hair on the back of her neck, running her hands down the lengths of Alex’s arms, sliding them under her shirt at the small of her back, nails scraping down soft skin as she pulled Alex closer.

Alex, coming up for breath for a split second, went for the tattoo on Maggie’s neck next, kissing it roughly as she stepped forward to press her entire body to Maggie’s, the heat between them rising at an alarming rate. She kissed and nipped along its entire length, from just under Maggie’s left ear down to her collar bone and towards her shoulder, paying attention to every detail and every line. It was overwhelming and it was hot, and soon Maggie was sliding out from under Alex’s grasp and gripping the collar on Alex’s opened flannel shirt, the black tee she had underneath riding up her torso, and dragging her towards the tour bus. 

They stumbled up the steps of the bus, having pulled apart for a few seconds as they walked from the venue to the bus, knowing that if anyone saw them kissing that’d be an entire PR problem on its own. But as soon as the door was closed Maggie was pulling Alex back to her, practically ripping the flannel shirt off the girl’s shoulders as she walked backwards. Alex smiled into the hot kisses, biting down on Maggie’s lip as she felt the bassist reach for the hem of her black t-shirt. Maggie laughed and tugged a little, sparking Alex’s arms to lift and allow Maggie to pull the shirt over her head, ditching it on the kitchen counter.

Maggie wanted to ask Alex exactly what they were doing but she couldn’t form the words and she really, really didn’t want to anyway. She wanted this, whatever this was, to keep going. Because, yes, she’d thought about it before, and, yes, she was going to take full advantage of Alex Danvers’s sudden need to make out with her. So she let Alex pull her shirt off as well as they tumbled onto Kara and James’s bed at the very back of the tour bus, Alex landing on her back and immediately scooting backwards so she was laying fully across the large bed. Maggie bit her lip as she looked down at Alex wearing jeans and a bra as she lay in front of her, panting from their unconventional workout over the course of the last few minutes.

“Stop looking at me like I’m a piece of meat and get your ass over here.” Alex said, her voice raw and laced with desire. Maggie nodded and slowly crawled onto the bed and onto Alex, kissing her softly before building it up again, tangling her left hand in Alex’s hair as the right one wandered down her side and down her thigh, bringing one of Alex’s leg up to hook around her waist, knowing Alex would use that as leverage. She felt soft hands come to rest of her sides as Alex moved with her perfectly, reaching up to kiss her harder, fully getting back into it. 

They made out hotly and with a fire neither of them expected for what seemed like forever. They moved together in perfect unison as they teased each other with gentle bites and rough kisses, their breaths ragged as they got more and more heated, as they got dangerously close to adding more clothes to the pile on the floor. Maggie groaned and grinded down on Alex, wishing for more contact with the gorgeous woman. Alex chuckled and wrapped her arms around Maggie’s waist fully then, pulling her down to allow for that extra friction, nails raking down Maggie’s back, unable to contain her attraction. 

And then it was game over. 

The door to the bus was opening and the rest of Krypton’s voices were flooding the space.

“Shit. Fuck.” Maggie swore as she scrambled off of Alex and snatched her shirt off the floor faster than Alex had ever witnessed a human move before, ducking into the shower room within seconds. Alex, on the other hand, was a little slower in her movements. She was still in a daze as she sat up and panicked, coming up with a weak cover story pretty quickly.  
“Alex? What are you doing?” Kara asked as she walked in first, seeing her sister on her bed and furrowing her eyebrows, her famous crinkle appearing on her forehead. Alex stuttered and took a breath, trying to calm her heartbeat and hoping more than anything that her face wasn’t too flushed.

“Oh. Um. I was changing and saw a spider?” Alex tried, shrugging. Kara took a second to process but then started laughing at Alex, believing her without a second thought. She nodded and threw herself down on the nearby couch and yawned, reaching out for James, who was looking rather skeptical, to join her. Alex met James’s eye and clenched her jaw, bracing herself for anything he’d have to say, being very relieved when he stayed silent and joined his girlfriend on the couch. 

Winn, however, smirked at Alex knowingly and strolled over, whispering in her ear.

“Is spider the code word then?” He asked rhetorically as he grabbed his pyjamas and walked into the bathroom opposite the shower, laughing to himself as he shut the door. Alex let out a sigh of relief, her eyes most definitely flashing a little panic as she, too, grabbed her pyjamas, trying to pretend the night was one like any other.

Trying to pretend that she hadn’t just made out with Maggie Sawyer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nat  
> twitter: @nerdalert_nat  
> tumblr: nat-on-the-run
> 
> Andrea  
> twitter: @sauerkraus14  
> tumblr: love-freeely
> 
> Artwork:http://archiveofourown.org/collections/SanversBigBang/works/12452580  
> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1248112821/playlist/2TBkvx0co107m1o4TeC83r


	4. Chemistry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Maggie work through some of the leftover emotions from their heated night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long wait for this one, apologies. Enjoy this next installment

Five and a half hours; Portland to Spokane. It wasn’t their longest single-day drive, not by a long shot. But when Maggie was left with nothing but stale coffee and a dry muffin it seemed like it was going to last forever and, so, she was understandably grumpy. 

She wasn’t a morning person to begin with, never had been. So adding the fact that she wanted to pick up where she left off with Alex the night previously with the inability to do so and you got one very snappy bass player. 

Kara, James, and Winn had been awake for their departure at eight in the morning, chatting quietly but with enough animation to wake both Alex and Maggie. Alex had gotten up right away to take a shower, having omitted that last night when she was… Otherwise preoccupied. 

Maggie, however, stayed in her bunk, shades shut, and scrolled through twitter. She avoided all of the #SleepingWithSawyer posts but replied politely to all of the other messages that were directed at her specifically. Most of them were fans excited for the show that night, and some of them were just going crazy about the fact that she was online. Either way she tried to calm her budding frustrations with fan interaction for a solid hour.

“Sawyer!” James called from the front of the bus eventually, clearly having seen Maggie’s posts and thus knowing she was awake. “Coffee’s getting cold.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m getting up…” Maggie replied, tossing her phone on her pillow as she rolled out from her bed, stretching and standing up before padding over lazily to grab and mug and pour herself a cup of coffee. She grabbed a muffin and sat down at the table alone, grumbling about the fact that it was still too early to be awake. She sat on her own watching as Winn played a racing game on the TV and Kara and James were looking at the final cut of their Car Wreck music video. 

Where Alex was, Maggie had no idea. Which was probably for the best, she didn’t want to lose control of her own body and jump the girl. Besides, she didn’t even know where they stood. What was last night to Alex? What did it mean for them? The conversation they needed to have wasn’t exactly one that could be openly discussed around “coworkers”. But she still wondered.

And well… She found out later; what it all meant, what they would become, what lessons she’d learn.

But that’s not the point. 

The point right now is that Maggie Sawyer is an absolute nightmare when she’s grumpy and turned on and wanting to drag a girl into the first broom closet she sees and just get fucked senseless. But that, all of it, is not exactly something you can do on a tour bus. So she drank her coffee and spent most of the day reading DC comics in her bunk, trying her hardest to avoid Alex if she could. The rest of them noticed, of course they did, but no one said anything. No one but Kara.

“Look Maggie” She started as she knelt down, sliding open the curtain that was keeping Maggie closed off to the world, keeping her voice low. “I know you’re going through something that must be hard right now but you know you can talk about it right?” Maggie looked over at Kara and raised her eyebrow, laughing a little at Kara’s comment, an oblivious comment because Maggie wasn’t upset, not really, she was just annoyed at how much she wanted to drag Kara’s sister away and have her way with her.

“I appreciate the concern Kara” Maggie said, trying to hold back a laugh. “I’m okay, really, just tired, don’t worry about it.”

“Okay, well let me know if there’s anything I can help with.” Maggie laughed at that too, wrong Danvers sister she thought to herself as Kara got up, closing Maggie’s curtain again.  
Krypton arrived in Spokane later that day, closing in on the town just in time to grab a late lunch before sound check, unpacking all their gear just past 3pm and spending an hour on stage getting everything set up. Maggie hung back after sound check to talk to Alex, hoping that the drummer would follow her lead. She did. 

“So… Last night huh?” Alex said, spinning her drumsticks in her hands as she swivelled around on her kit’s stool, smirking a little as Maggie’s head whipped up from her spot sitting on one of their amps, having been fiddling with her bass guitar. Alex laughed at Maggie’s expression, clearly shocked that Alex brought that up so fast. 

“Last night, yes. That happened.” Maggie replied, getting over the shock of the suddenness and laughing to herself, remembering the crazy chemistry and heat and wandering hands. “Thoughts on that?” 

“Look Mags.” Alex said, standing up, tucking her drumsticks into her back pocket and crossing her arms. Maggie listened, cocking her head sideways as she strummed softly. She didn’t really know exactly what she wanted Alex to say. Whatever she expected though, it wasn’t this. “I wouldn’t be opposed to doing that again. But we should probably hold off for a while, just to let James and Winn forget about what they saw, because they’re not going to let up on the teasing if they find out.” Maggie laughed and nodded, about to reply but seeing Alex starting to walk away. So she stayed silent, but still let herself steal a sneaky glance at Alex’s ass as she made her way backstage. 

The band got together for their typical pre-show dinner at around 6:30, knowing that eating too soon before a show never, ever ended well. They’d been there before… Not a nice scene. Not a happy Winn. So they ate early and, for once, relatively healthily: Kara had ordered a massive Caesar salad with chicken for them all to share, much to Alex’s dismay, who would have preferred anything other than “fucking leaves”. 

The meal didn’t last long but Alex noticed Maggie’s staring the entire time. It’s not like she was being that obvious really, but Alex noticed because she had been staring too. And she kind of loved it. Thankfully no one else picked up on their little game though because if they had then surely, surely someone would have said something. But before that happened, before James or Winn could comment (both Maggie and Alex knew that Kara was too oblivious to pick up on any of this) they were being carted off to the stage, the lights were dimming, the crowd was screaming, and Krypton was about to walk on for their show. 

James, Winn, and Kara always opened the snow, going on and starting a riff before Alex and Maggie joined in to really bring the bass and the foundation behind the music. 

Maggie wasn’t going to say anything, not after Alex’s comment about holding off whatever the hell this was. She wasn’t going to. But she couldn’t resist. Not when Alex was wearing those leather pants and that loose tank top that showed off that dark purple bra.

“Nice bra.” She said, winking at Alex before plugging in her bass and sprinting on stage, hearing Kara call her name. And then her comment was lost in the back of her mind because she was on stage and she was thriving. Alex followed her on stage, unable to reply to her sneaky little comment, running towards the front of the stage to toss an arm around her sister and wave to the crowd before going to take a seat at her drum kit.  
The show exploded then as Alex pounded on the drums, the energy she put into it unlike anything the rest of the band had seen in a long, long time. Alex knew what she was doing, she knew exactly what she was doing. Alex Danvers was showing off. And the fans were just eating it up. 

The atmosphere was insane. Kara smiled as she spun around, jumping across the stage as their music brought her to life. There was something about the way that Kara changed when she was on stage, when she was doing the very thing she loved the most. She was the glue that held Krypton together, and that was proven every show. Because she pulled everyone in, what with her passion and drive to be better every night, to give something to the fans that watched them something new with each and every performance. Their set list usually stayed the same, sometimes a couple songs getting moved around, but the vibe they brought to each venue was always a little different. 

So, yes, Kara brought them together usually. But that night Alex stood out. She played her heart out as one song flowed into the next. And Maggie was following her lead. She kept stepping closer and closer to Alex until she was right next to her, leaning her shoulder against Alex’s as they moved together to the beat of the song and the sound of Kara’s vocals. 

And Maggie was laughing as they played.

And Maggie was hopping up on one of the amps, the crowd crying out when they saw her.

And Maggie was smirking and running up the stage, sliding forward on her knees at the front of the stage.

And Maggie was smiling harder than she ever had. 

It was nights like this, night where the crowd was crying out her name, and Alex was backing her bass flawlessly, both of them providing the groundwork for the rest of the band, that Maggie loved the most. Because she could feel Alex staring and she could’ve cut the sexual tension between them with a knife. And she knew that this was what loving life was supposed to feel like. 

After three songs Kara always addressed the crowd, thanking them all for coming out and officially introducing the rest of the band, although most of them actually knew all of their names already. Still though, Kara felt it important to toss their names out because she knew that the background faces often got overlooked in bands, and she never wanted to let that happen, especially not to her sister.

“Spokane.” She said in a deep voice, her face lighting up as she screams filled the hall. “Thank you so much for coming out! Without you all there would be no Krypton. We all love you guys so much. Every single one of you.” James stepped forward then, throwing and arm around his girlfriend, making sure their guitars didn’t bash together in the process. 

“You guys are the best fans a band could ask for. And here we are, thanks to you. You know Kara, my lovely, lovely girlfriend.” He said, kissing her on the cheek and practically making every girl in the room swoon over the small gesture. “My name is James.” Again, another scream. James chuckled and then pointed to Winn, Maggie, and Alex in succession after that. “Winn, on the keyboard. Maggie Mags on the bass, our newest and tiniest member. And finally, the badass and incredibly talented Alex, on the drums!” And that’s when Kara usually took over. But that night Alex leaned into her mic, cutting off her sister. 

“Hey guys, what do you say we shake things up a little?” Alex said lowly, tugging the mic from its stand and taking a stand, looking out into the crowd of people as they agreed, roaring to life at the mystery prospect. “What do you say we see what Sawyer here can do with my drum kit?”

“Alex-”

“What do you say we give out new friend a little Kryptonian initiation? A little ‘new tour’ love?” Alex was already dragging Maggie towards her drums and taking the bass guitar off her shoulder before she finished the question, grabbing on her hips and sitting her down. She leaned in close to Maggie, slipping her bright green drumsticks into Maggie’s hand and whispering. “Do you trust me?”

“I don’t need to trust you Danvers.” Maggie replied smugly, spinning the drumsticks like Alex did all the time, leaning back into Alex’s body slightly to make sure she didn’t get whacked in the face. And then Maggie Sawyer herself leaned towards the mic. “You guys ready for this shit?” 

And then Maggie started drumming. And Alex’s jaw dropped. Because she’d been ready to kneel beside Maggie and guide her hands through it all, to have her body pressed up right against Maggie’s back and show her the ropes of being a drummer, of hitting the right beats at the right time. But Maggie knew how to play the drums, and Alex didn’t know that until that very second. Her jaw dropped and Maggie knew it had, because Alex, whose body still barely brushed her own, had stilled completely. 

“What the fuck Maggie!” Alex yelled when she finally got her footing again, slapping the girl on the shoulder as Maggie continued to absolutely kill it at the drums. She laughed loudly as she looked at the rest of the band’s faces. Kara, James, and Winn had also frozen in shock, none of them knowing quite how to react to this new information that Maggie could play the drums. It was hilarious to the bass player, who took the last few seconds she sat at the drums to run off a series of incredible beats before winking at the crowd and standing up, bowing as the fans went wild and she felt Alex throw her arms around her and drag her forward. 

“Maggie Sawyer everyone.” Winn said into his own microphone, letting Maggie soak up the attention, all of them stepping back as she beamed. Alex, meanwhile, went to grab the bass she’d taken from Maggie a few minutes ago, holding it out as Maggie leaned forward, letting Alex put the guitar strap back over her head and the instrument back in her hands. Maggie then watched Alex as she took her place back at the drums before returning her focus back to the crowd and the fun little talk Kara was having with them again.

Maggie could see the hunger in Alex’s eyes, the fire that burned there as she tore her eyes away from Maggie, trying, desperately it seemed, to focus on her job on stage. Drumming wasn’t easy, Maggie knew this, so she made the decision to stop enticing Alex for the rest of the show, to stop trying to silently flirt with her in some backwards attempt to make Alex break her thoughts on waiting; on waiting to see if this, if anything, would happen. She respected that. Besides, she knew, Maggie knew, that the fans waiting outside would be more eager than ever to get her attention. Maybe she could live with that instead.

The show ran long that night, mainly because they were having so, so much fun on stage. Kara asked for song requests and James got down in the crowd at one point, smiling brighter than Maggie had ever seen as he was surrounded by fans as he played, making his way around the venue, sure to acknowledge every corner of the room filled with adoring music-lovers. It was by far the most incredible show Krypton had ever played, and the five of them were beyond thrilled as they came off, absolutely living off the high that the show had given them, more eager than ever to get outside and meet some of the fans that James had already had the pleasure of connecting with.

“You hear them?” Kara said as they all approached the stage door. She smiled as the screams of the fans breached the large door, all of them already excited for the band to come out, not knowing how close they really were. The screams were amplified tenfold as Kara slowly opened the door, laughing at the very response she’d been expecting. She tossed a sharpie over her shoulder for Winn to catch, which he did, and then took the plunge into the crowd. 

Maggie, who happened to be last in line that night, watched as each of her bandmates stepped outside, leaving her alone in the back hallway. She let the door close and took a deep breath, trying to collect her thoughts on the show that night, the insanity of it not having fully registered in her mind yet. She only stood in disbelief for a couple seconds, knowing she was more than wanted outside. 

The crowd yelled again as she opened the door, poking her head out and laughing at their reaction before fully setting into the cold air.

“Can you play any other instruments too?” Maggie heard from behind her, turning around to lock eyes with a brunette not much taller than her, who was holding a poster with her face on it. Maggie wondered briefly where she got it seeing as they had no solo merchandise, but quickly dropped the question to answer the one she’d been asked as she signed the poster.

“I can, yes. I started with the guitar actually, back in high school.” Maggie said, talking loud enough so the fan could hear her over the chatter that was consistently going on around them. “My ex-girlfriend’s brother taught me how to play the drums when he found out. And I just picked up the bass after that, I’ve always been interested in music, so it was inevitable. Here’s a fun fact for you: the first song I learned was Absolutely by Nine Days. Story of a Girl, you know? Man I had fun with that back in the day…” 

“You’re, like, crazy cool you know that?” The girl stated next, causing a very knowing smirk to appear on Maggie’s face. 

“Oh am I?” She flirted back, winking before offering a hand for the girl’s phone, lifting it up and snapping a photo of them together. “Nice to hear not everyone thinks of me as a tiny dork. I’m glad you had a nice time tonight, thanks for the support.” She added, turning to the next group of people that were waiting to get her attention. 

Maggie signed what seemed to be a hundred posters that night, always peering back to the edge of the crowd where that brunette stood, clearly wanting to talk to Maggie again. And any other night she might have gone for it. But after what had happened with Alex’s and her confrontation and, well, make-up, last night, she bid the crowd goodnight and followed the rest of Krypton back inside instead, leaving the girl with nothing more than a parting wink. 

“What a fucking night.” Winn said animatedly when they finally got back inside, pumping his fist into the air much to the amusement of the rest of them. “I can’t believe it. Guys, we have to find that energy again, that was something else! Oh, and we get a motel tonight. Man, what a good day.” 

With those last parting words, they all went to pack up their things and helped the crew load everything back into the truck before they hopped into the car and got a ride with J’onn to the motel for the night, Alex, Maggie, and Winn getting tossed keys to their own rooms while Kara snagged the set for James and herself. 

They all grabbed their duffels from the tour bus and made their way to their rooms, the exhaustion from their long day finally catching up to them. All of them except for Maggie that is, who was still alive with the excitement of the show; still alive with the incredible chemistry she had felt with Alex on stage all show, sharing side glances and winks throughout the entire set. 

She collapsed on the single double bed in the small room, pulling off her black jeans and pulling on her boxer shorts, also ditching her tank top and bra for a massive t-shirt to sleep in. 

She flicked through the TV until she found the news to listen to in the background as she opened twitter and started doing exactly what she had that very morning. 

She replied to the tweets for a long, long time, until they started dying down as midnight approached and most of the fans were probably headed off to bed.

Maggie decided to skip her normal snack of an apple with peanut butter that night, opting to call for room service ice cream instead, having been eyeing the chocolate raspberry option since she picked up the menu and had a look through it, something she always did the second she got into a new hotel room. So she called them up and asked for a nice big bowl of three scoops to be delivered to her room, the front desk letting her know that it shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes for it to arrive, the kitchen staff a little behind on the room service orders, a  
busy night apparently. 

She debated calling Alex then, for the first time since she’d gotten into her room. 

She’d thought about pulling Alex aside earlier in the day to really, really talk about what happened last night, wanting to be clear on whatever Alex had been thinking; wanting to know where to set her boundaries when it came to anything that was going on with them. But she thought against it, assuring herself that Alex would come to her when she was ready to bring up their make-out session again. 

It was better that way, letting Alex call the shots, Maggie had never been good at navigating that part of… Whatever this was. 

So instead of calling Alex she forced herself to pay attention to the TV screen, not really registering what was going on, excited to delve into the massive portion of ice cream she was awaiting.  
The knock came exactly twenty minutes later.

“Impeccable timing.” Maggie muttered as she hopped up off the bed and sprinted towards her down, swinging it open with excitement, and stopping dead in her tracks when she was none other than Alex Danvers standing in front of her, bowl of chocolate raspberry ice cream in her hand.

“Someone ordered ice cream?” Alex teased as she put a hand on Maggie’s chest and pushed her back into her room, shutting the door behind her as she leaned forward to kiss Maggie hard and kiss her right, clearly not caring about her notion of “holding off”. Alex felt Maggie smile into her kiss, ready for whatever Alex may have in mind, already tugging at her clothes. 

“Fuck yes. Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope all you Americans had a lovely Thanksgiving, hopefully this is a nice little treat to hold you over if things are tough at home.  
> -Nat
> 
> Hey guys! Thanks for reading!  
> -Andrea
> 
> Nat  
> twitter: @nerdalert_nat  
> tumblr: nat-on-the-run
> 
> Andrea  
> twitter: @sauerkraus14  
> tumblr: love-freeely
> 
> Artwork:http://archiveofourown.org/collections/SanversBigBang/works/12452580  
> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1248112821/playlist/2TBkvx0co107m1o4TeC83r


	5. Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Maggie... Well... You know.

Alex’s hands were all over once she managed to set down the bowl of ice-cream; hands in Maggie’s hair, up her shirt, sliding into her boxers. And Maggie was all about it. She reciprocated enthusiastically, guiding Alex backwards towards her bed in the middle of the room, spinning around at the last second so Alex’s back hit the mattress instead of her own. It took her less than five second to pull the thank top over Alex’s head, leaving her lying there in that gorgeous purple bra Maggie had complimented her on earlier.

“Damn Danvers, I stand by what I said earlier. Nice bra.” Maggie said, her voice having dropped from its normal tone as she looked down at Alex exactly like she had the night previous, but with no interruptions on the horizon this time. Alex smirked at the comment, lifting up and grabbing Maggie’s loose shirt, pulling her forward as she sat up to meet her, grabbing Maggie’s hand with her free one and guiding her grasp to the clasp on her bra. “You sure?” 

“Maggie.” Alex scoffed, pulling back from their kiss to give the girl a pointed look. Maggie simply raised an eyebrow and waited for her answer. “Yes.”

“Good.” She said, unsnapping the clasp of Alex’s bra and tossing it to the floor before pushing Alex back to lay down, falling with her. As Alex had last night, Maggie went for the neck, wasting no time as she pulled her own shirt off, breaking only for a second from the task at hand. Her hands now wrapped around Alex’s ribs, lifting her slightly to feel their torsos together.

And then Maggie stilled, causing Alex to let out a frustrated grunt as she tried to pull Maggie closer again, to no avail. She stopped when she realized Maggie wasn’t going to carry on with their activities. 

And then she watched as Maggie hopped off of her to grab the bowl of ice cream she’d apparently forgotten about until the worst possible moment. 

She was back straddling Alex a couple seconds later, a spoonful of chocolate raspberry ice cream being shoved into her mouth, a satisfied grin spreading across her face.

“Really Mags? Now?” Alex asked, propping herself on her elbows. Maggie just nodded happily as she took another spoonful, looking to be in absolute bliss with the desert. The half-naked girl laying under her was a nice touch too, but mainly she was blissfully enjoying the ice cream.

“Yep. Doesn’t mean I can’t multitask though.” Maggie replied, her happy smile turning into a wickedly mischievous grin as she scooped a tiny bit of ice cream and held the spoon out, Alex catching on a second too late as the cold liquid dripped on her sternum, causing her to let out a little shriek. Maggie laughed and held the bowl and spoon in one hand as she leaned down and slowly, very slowly, licked the ice cream off of Alex, satisfied with the loud moan the drummer let out at the action. 

“Oh- Okay I think- I think I can get behind this multitasking thing.” Alex said, sliding her hands up Maggie’s thighs to rest on her waist, gripping at them as the hunger in her eyes grew with Maggie’s. She encouraged Maggie’s grinding as she carried on alternating between taking full scoops of ice cream herself and licking it tantalizingly off of Alex’s body. 

She dropped some on her left breast, taking extra care in making sure it was all gone, circling Alex’s nipple over and over as she did so, loving how Alex was squirming under her touch. She repeated that very same thing with the right side, laughing at the protest she got when she sat back up. 

She dropped some on Alex’s collar bone, licking it off and dragging her tongue up to her neck, switching to kissing it slowly as she had a few minutes earlier, sucking on the tender skin there, knowing full well that she was going to leave a mark.

She dropped some dangerously close to waistline of Alex’s pants next, licking the ice cream off quickly but pulling her pants down a couple inches to kiss a little lower, just to tease Alex a little more than she already was. 

She wiggled her finger at Alex then, encouraging the girl to sit up so she could give her some of the ice cream, realizing that she hadn’t been sharing this whole time. Not that it seemed like Alex cared much because she was still benefitting from it, but Maggie figured she might as well be at least a little cordial. 

“You the sharing type now?” Alex asked as she opened her mouth to accept Maggie’s offering of ice cream, the bowl close to empty now, which made Alex rather excited for what could come next. 

“I’m not all badass all the time Danvers, you know this.” Maggie said, blatantly stealing the line Alex had said to her at universal a few days ago, spinning it to give it a much… Dirtier context. “But I can be if you want me to.” 

“Uh… Yes please.” Alex said, leaning forward to nip at Maggie’s collar bone, encouraging her to finish her ice cream quicker, which Maggie did, almost seeming bored with the desert now as she practically inhaled it, reaching to set the bowl on one of the side table beside her bed. Alex was laughing at the rush of the movement, the bowl nearly toppling onto the floor as Maggie threw her back down on the bed and slid down her body to undo the button on her leather pants. Pants that Alex realized might not be the easiest to take off.

Whatever worries she had seemed to vanish pretty quickly though, as Maggie had her pants off in record speed, leaving them both just wearing underwear. Alex wanted nothing more than for Maggie to keep going, to bare then both, to fuck her until she saw stars, to have her way with her after teasing her so much on stage that night. So instead of just assuming she would she straight up asked her to.

“Just take off your damn boxers Maggie, you’re killing me here.” Alex said, tugging at the waistband of Maggie’s underwear, getting a laugh from that as she did. 

“Yeah, yeah, give me a second would you?” Maggie said, clearly amused with the demand and obliging by tugging Alex’s underwear off and following suit ditching her own. And then Maggie took time to really appreciate a naked Alex Danvers. 

She was gorgeous, she really was. She had curves in just the right places and her skin was so, so soft under her touch. 

Her hair was tousled beautifully, the aftermath of Maggie running her hands through the short locks as Alex pushed her backwards into her room. It still looked perfect though. How Alex managed to do that she had no idea. 

Her legs, wow. Maggie never noticed something as trivial as legs on a girl but Alex had legs that seemed to go on forever. They were toned and muscular, probably from the runs Alex went on every morning before the tour bus left. So yes, Maggie noticed them this time because she wanted to notice everything about Alex Danvers. 

She admired all of Alex. Every patch of skin and every tiny little birthmark, until she reached her eyes. Those beautiful hazel eyes just burning with desire and laced with pleasure. Maggie could get lost in them every damn day. But that’s not what this night was about. This night was about quite literally every other aspect of Alex’s body, and it was time Maggie took advantage of that.

Maggie lay down on Alex and crashed their lips together roughly, feeling Alex’s arms wrap around her immediately, hands strong on her back as if she was scared she’d jump away again. Maggie moaned into Alex’s mouth as she felt their bodies move together, half-holding her weight off of Alex a little, elbows on the mattress at her sides. She adjusted her position slightly then, sliding a thigh in between Alex’s and using the pull Alex had on her as leverage when she grinded down, both of them going breathless with the action. She moved her mouth to Alex’s neck again, loving the softness there and the way that Alex seemed to melt when she kissed along her neck and jaw.

“Fuck, Mags.” Alex breathed harshly, lifting her hips to meet Maggie’s. She lifted a thigh as well, knowing that she could help with Maggie’s pleasure even if she was the one on her back. They moved together flawlessly, basking in the heat between them, back to kissing now. 

Alex couldn’t take it much longer then so she grabbed Maggie’s hand and slowly started guiding it down towards her core, needing the release. Needing it more than anything else in the world. Needing nothing but Maggie, Maggie, Maggie; as they lay there together, moved there together, in that old motel room in Spokane. And Maggie? Maggie needed it just as much, so she followed Alex’s lead. 

Maggie’s hand found Alex wet beyond what she thought. Of course she could tell a little based on riding Alex’s thigh and Alex being pressed against her own, but she didn’t really know until her hand was moving across her slit and her fingers were parting her and sliding in to fill the need for pleasure Alex had been begging for. Alex groaned again, into Maggie’s mouth now, her nails digging into Maggie’s back and raking down. Maggie hissed at the pain but it did nothing more than encourage her more, which she assured Alex when she lifted her hand.

“No. That was good, keep going.” Maggie said, out of breath, as she moved with conviction against Alex, knowing what she was doing, knowing exactly what she was doing. And then Alex, catching on to Maggie’s moaning, was moving her own hand to help get Maggie off as well, slipping it between their bodies when Maggie briefly lifted her hips to allow Alex access.

Their pace quickened in unison as they got closer, breaths hot between kisses, Alex’s nails leaving long red scratches on Maggie’s back. Maggie’s hips moved slowly but with conviction and she grinded down onto Alex, taking advantage of that to add to the pressure she was able to pleasure Alex with. It came with its own advantages for herself too, the more she used her bodyweight to push Alex close to the edge the more Alex’s hand pressed against herself as well. 

Alex came first as her hand on Maggie’s back clenched into a fist while the other stilled, temporarily only as she rode out her high. The moan that had filled the room was probably loud enough to wake up their neighbours, but that was the last thing on Maggie’s mind as she felt Alex clench around her fingers, all of the muscle she could feel tensing up. It was heavenly, to see Alex’s eyes roll back into her head and her body go slack after she calmed down, although Maggie’s hand was still moving in her, pulling every last bit of pleasure forward she could.

And then Alex’s hand on Maggie’s own core was moving again, with much conviction now, her palm hard on Maggie’s clit. Maggie as caught so off guard, not having realized that Alex would be wanting to and ready to help her out already. But there she was helping Maggie out and there Maggie was trying to get closer to Alex, to get more from what she was being offered. 

She did. Alex had wrapped her free arm around Maggie tightly, pulling her down onto her hand as Alex moved with Maggie and listened to what Maggie’s body was telling her; how she reacted to each action and each adjustment. And Alex was absolutely amazing at reading what Maggie needed because her orgasm hit fast and hit strong. She was moaning as Alex did, trying to muffle it as she bit down on Alex’s neck, not hard enough to hurt her, but definitely hard enough that it would be red. 

“Holy shit.” Maggie muttered as she collapsed on top of Alex, not having any energy left to hold herself up anymore, completely wiped. “Alex that was…”

“I know.” Alex replied softly, pressing gentle kisses to Maggie’s neck as her fingers traced circles on her back, feeling the tiny ridges of the scrapes that covered the expanse of skin. The heat between them was still there, but it had transformed from raw sexual desire to something a lot deeper, something that was keeping them both there, wrapped up in each other’s arms in the dead of night. Maggie rolled sideways to they were both laying on their sides now, arms lazily wrapped around each other. That’s when Alex asked the question she’d be wary about from the second she knocked on the door. “Can I stay?”

Maggie smiled at the question. She smiled and she wrapped her arms around Alex tighter, pulling herself into the warmth Alex was providing.

“Shut up I’m sleeping” Maggie mumbled, nuzzling into Alex’s neck and letting her eyes fall closed, sleep already pulling her down. She felt Alex’s silent chuckle as she pulled the covers over them both and pulled Maggie in closer, not protesting when she, too, started falling asleep. 

The morning came way too soon for Alex’s liking, as her alarm started blaring at seven in the morning. She groaned and went to reach over to turn it off before freezing right before she did, realizing that she still had a sleeping Maggie tucked in her arms. Her heart hummed with a calmness that she hadn’t felt in a long, long time. She went to reach her phone again, slowly, as so to disturb Maggie, having no luck as Maggie mumbled and rolled over.

“Mags?” Alex whispered, getting no answer. Alex smiled softly and rolled onto her front, tucking her arms under her head as the covers slid down her bare back a little with Maggie’s readjustments. She knew she could get up and go back to her room to shower before Kara came knocking to drag her out for breakfast, but she was just so comfy wrapped up in the warm bed with Maggie, who was now actually waking up. She whispered Maggie’s name again, getting a mumbled response in return. 

“You didn’t leave?” Maggie asked, rolling back onto her side to face Alex, sliding a hand over Alex’s exposed back and gently running her hand across the soft, soft skin. 

“No, why would I leave?” Alex said with a small laugh, her eyes staying closed as she bathed in the softness of Maggie’s tough and the morning sun peeking through the shear blinds of the room’s single window. When Maggie didn’t reply Alex kept talking. “I was too tired and too comfortable to leave. Besides this type of morning Maggie? I like it, you’re not being mean to me.”

“Hey! I’m never mean.” Maggie replied with a small whack to Alex’s head, hearing Alex laugh loudly at the action. And then she was looking into Alex’s eyes and leaning forward to kiss her, something she’d been wanting to do since she woke up. Alex, thankfully, kissed her back, sighing happily as she did. Maggie moved to press gentle, gentle kisses onto Alex’s left shoulder, shifting her weight to continue towards to shoulder blade, stopping when she saw something she did know existed. “You have another tattoo?”

Alex nodded slowly as she felt Maggie’s lips continue their journey across the ink on her shoulder blade, as if to ask what it meant. She was happy to tell the story behind that tattoo but she wanted to enjoy the moment first. The morning had been perfect, with easy touches and calm kisses. There was something about waking up next to Maggie, to have Maggie hold her close and kiss her right. It was perfect, for now, but she knew it was a one time thing. It had to be… They were bandmates, coworkers, they couldn’t jump into anything, those proximity relationships never worked out. So she enjoyed the few seconds of silence before she answered Maggie’s silent question. 

“Kara came to live with us when she was about eight and I was ten. Her parents had been lost in a fire and my parents, being doctors, were the perfect fit for her. They hadn’t been on the foster list but a friend of theirs asked them, knowing that they could get support from my parents and also have me, have a sister, to help distract her from the pain. So they asked them and my parents accepted and Kara was with us less than a week later.” Alex started quietly, her voice still laced with sleep as she felt Maggie stop and lay back down to catch her eye and listen intently, hands still grazing circle on Alex’s warm skin. 

“We lived in Midvale, as you know. I used to surf every morning that I could down at the beach by our house. Kara would sit on the sand and watch me, probably just needing the time outside, the air out there more fresh than anything you could imagine. The ocean had a way of relaxing anyone in its presence. So, yeah, Kara would sit and watch me surf. And when I was done I’d head out and I’d join her-” She carried on, realizing as Maggie interrupted her that the backstory was getting excessive.

“That doesn’t explain the flower…” Maggie started, getting an annoyed ‘shut up and let me finish’ from Alex, chuckling at the threat without any animosity. “Okay, sorry, go on.”

“We’d stay there for hours sometimes, just talking and getting to know each other.” Alex continued, letting her eyes close again, the trust between her and Maggie growing with the quietness they shared. “There were these tiny little purple wildflowers that grew at the border of the sand and the grass. We’d pick them and weave them into our hair. It was those hours and those quiet times between us that made up grow so close. So when we left Midvale, when we took our lives into our own hands I got the tattoo. As a reminder of how we became sisters, of a reminder of the childhood memories we share. It’s for Kara.”

“Hmmm… Well it’s beautiful.” Maggie said, kissing it gently again before lifting Alex’s shoulder to encourage Alex to roll onto her side and let Maggie into her arms, both of them sighing happily at the warmth. Alex hugged Maggie close for a few minutes, the pair breathing softly and relishing in the silence that surrounded them, in the peace the early morning brought along. 

Alex was the first to move, realizing that if she didn’t get up now that she’d more definitely fall back asleep and miss her breakfast with Kara. She knew she should talk with Maggie, to define what this was, to explain that she wasn’t quite sure what exactly she was feeling but that she wanted this to keep going. She knew she should, but she didn’t. Because things were so, so messy, and this is one thing she wasn’t ready to tackle yet. So she rolled out of bed and started to get dressed, Maggie protesting but not making a move to stop her as she was sitting up and pulling on her massive t-shirt she usually slept in.

“I have to go shower, Kara’s going to be knocking on my door to drag me out for breakfast” Alex explained, not wanting Maggie to think that she was running away from her, from this. “And I should probably call Dani too…” 

Maggie’s stomach dropped then, the smile that had been a constant all morning fading within a split second. Her mind started reeling with the fact that she just slept with someone in a relationship. She thought Alex and Dani had broken up, she thought that they were both single… This wasn’t what she wanted. This, whatever this was, was supposed to be something easy and fun. It wasn’t supposed to be her getting Alex to cheat on her girlfriend. Maggie had gone through shit like that before, she’d gone through a lot, and she never wanted to be that person. She never wanted to be the “mistress” or the “other woman”. She’d promised herself long ago that she would never sleep with someone who was in a relationship, with someone who was otherwise involved. And yet here she was, doing exactly what she’d told herself she wouldn’t.

Alex noticed the change in Maggie’s demeanor immediately, and she stepped forward and she pulled on her tank top to reach for Maggie’s face, asking her what was wrong with one pointed look. Maggie shook her head and stepped back, forcing a smile again and looking up at Alex.

“I’m fine” Maggie said simply, putting a hand on Alex’s chest as Alex had on hers last night as she pushed her backwards into the room. “I’m good, you should go shower and meet Kara I’ll talk to you later okay?” Alex nodded and turned to head out the door, having nothing else to say, knowing she was running low on time to get ready now. 

Maggie listened to the door close. She made sure that Alex was well away before she let her guard down again. She tugged her shirt off and numbly walked to the bathroom, turning the shower on and stepping under the scalding water, letting it rain over her. 

She wasn't sure why this hurt her so much. Well, she did. She knew why it hurt. Because Maggie has had lots of girlfriends. And some of them had been good. Some of them had treated her okay. But most of them? Most of them ended badly. And none of them lasted long.

And all of that history had left Maggie feeling like she’d never been good enough. Because even if things had seemed good, those girls always found what they were missing from Maggie somewhere else, usually in someone else, always failing to tell Maggie until she found out by walking in, reading the wrong text, whatever. 

And every time Maggie would act like it was fine. 

And every time Maggie believed a little bit more that she wasn't good enough and never would be. 

And every time Maggie would just swallow her pride and walk away.

And every time Maggie would break in silence, never letting anyone see her vulnerable.

She had come to accept that fact of her life. And she was okay with that, because she could handle it, she always had and she always would. But she vowed that she would never make anyone else feel the same way she had. So now, after finding out that Alex was still with Dani; after what she did with Alex last night; after thinking Alex was single while this all went down… Now knowing she’d broken that promise... She knew how Dani would feel if she found out. Because she’d always been on that side. 

So she let the scalding water wash over as she stood there, shattered, because she had, once again, failed. But this time it had been her fault. And that was way worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, finals season! Hope you all enjoyed the latest instalment of Aftertaste, one you've probably been waiting for. As usually, all our links are below if you have any questions.
> 
> Also we promise that the ending of all of this will be explained, neither of us condone cheating. 
> 
> Nat  
> twitter: @nerdalert_nat  
> tumblr: nat-on-the-run
> 
> Andrea  
> twitter: @sauerkraus14  
> tumblr: love-freeely
> 
> Artwork:http://archiveofourown.org/collections/SanversBigBang/works/12452580  
> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1248112821/playlist/2TBkvx0co107m1o4TeC83r


	6. What's It Going To Be?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Maggie have some decisions to make about the nature of any type of arrangement

Maggie didn’t say anything about her and Alex’s night together for a few days. She wasn’t sure if she was scared about how Alex would react about her wariness about Dani or if she didn’t want to create tension within the band with any accusation she may make. Regardless of the reason they carried on how they’d been since they met; casual banter and friendly conversation. It was just foreign enough that both Maggie and Alex knew there was an elephant in the room but just normal enough that the rest of Krypton didn’t notice. A weird balance of “we both know something but apparently aren’t ready to talk about it yet” filled the air between them for every interaction. But the elephant in the room had to be addressed eventually. And Maggie was the one to address it.

“Look Alex, you can’t just go around making fun of James and me when you and Dani are just as bad!” Kara teased, shoving Alex sideways and almost making her sister fall off the back of the truck wherein she sat. “You two-”

“No. Nope. No, no.” Alex cut her off, a hand covering Kara’s mouth and laughing as she heard her muffled protests. Kara scowled at Alex but stopped squirming. “Dani and I? Not together anymore. So, yes, I’m allowed to make fun of you.”

“What?” Kara said, pulling Alex’s grip off her face and smacking her shoulder, scolding her for not telling her sooner. “Since when? What happened?”

“Since a few days ago. Look, nothing happened okay? I just… It’s fine.” She told Kara, crossing her arms again and sitting down again, shrugging as Kara’s eyes narrowed at her, trying to pull any type of proper explanation but getting nothing. When Alex shrugged again and said “What else do you want me to say?” Kara dropped the conversation and rolled her eyes, grabbing her guitar and lugging it inside, even though there was a crew at the venue to do their set-up.

Alex watched her go and laughed to herself. She knew Kara’s worry came from a place of caring, but what happened between her and Maggie, between her and Dani wasn’t something she needed to share with her sister. She knew this thing with Maggie was a one-time-thing, but it still made her realize how much she’d been missing while with Dani.

There was so much of herself she needed to discover, so many experiences she wanted to have, and she couldn’t do that while using Dani as a shield, while pretending that Dani was the person she met four years ago. Because she wasn’t the same, neither was Alex, and that was something she needed to accept at this point; she’d let it go on way too long really. But Dani was all she knew, and that wasn’t something easy to move past. It was going to take work and lots of—

“Alex.” She heard from behind her, the familiar voice of Maggie Sawyer tearing her from her thoughts on her ex. She turned and smiled, slapping the spot beside her for Maggie to sit. But the bassist shook her head and cocked it sideways as she stood in front of Alex, biting her lip before she started talking. “I’ve been wanting to say a few things.”

“Maggie…”

“Shut up I have a list. Let me get through it okay?” Maggie said, lifting a hand to stop Alex’s train of thought. Alex smirked and shut her mouth, ready to listen to what her bandmate had to say. “First of all, and this is the only nice thing I have to say, I’m sorry for making you cheat on Dani.” She saw Alex go to protest but, again, held up her hand to stop her. “Secondly what the fuck Alex! Why didn’t you tell me you were still with Dani?! I thought, after that night in LA, that you two were done. Done for real. I know you two have some weird break-up and make-up shit going on but I didn’t know… Look you should’ve stopped me Alex. Because making out was nice and that was rash. But you didn’t have to come to my hotel door. What the fuck was that?”

“Mags-”

“Not done.” Maggie said sternly, lifting a finger at Alex and making harsh eye contact with her before she dropped her gaze and kept going. “That was an asshole move. So you should apologize to Dani and, hell, you should apologize to me.”

“I’m sorry Maggie.” Alex said, quickly, watching as the girl whipped her head up, her gaze angry still. Alex put her hands up in defense, lowering them slowly when Maggie seemed to be listening. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you but hear me out okay?”

“Yeah. Alright. Go ahead.”

“Dani… She sleeps with other women.” Alex said, hopping down from her seat on the truck and standing face to face with Maggie now. “I know this. We have an open relationship. And I’m not the type to sleep with others, so that night bugged my conscience enough to end it for real, which I have. But us? Or not even us specifically I guess but… Me, sleeping with someone that wasn’t her? That was allowed.”

“Well… Dani’s a bitch so jot that down.”

“I know she is.” Alex laughed, throwing an arm around Maggie and leading her inside as she carried on her explanation. “Besides, I realized that I wanted more than seeing a girl I don’t love anymore once every few months. So, thanks for that I guess. That one night opened my eyes a little.”

“One night. Yes.” Maggie said, hesitating on those few words just long enough that Alex knew she wanted more. Which wasn’t something she’d planned. Not at all. Because Maggie was the type of girl who liked one night stands, she’d expected that. She hadn’t expected hesitation.

But before Alex could address that they were surrounded by the rest of the band and J’onn, who had wanted to meet with them all before their show, to talk about reorganizing some of the set list and working in a better encore, which would include Car Wreck; moving the song from one of the first they performed to the very last one.

J’onn went on to talk about the plan of action for the next few venues, something that Alex clearly did not care about at all. So she let her mind wander; about what Maggie had said, about what they’d done, about… Potential. Was this something she wanted to pursue? She hated the idea of proximity dating but her and Maggie got along so, so well so maybe? _No, Alex, bad idea… Right?_ She thought to herself, glancing sideways at the very girl she was thinking about.

Maggie was paying attention, unlike Alex, listening intently to what their manager was telling them. She always listened. Probably because she was still working on getting on his good side, even though Alex knew she already was. It was still pretty adorable though, wanting to fit in, wanting to really, really be a part of Krypton and do the best she could.

Maggie was… Was she wanting more? Fuck, Alex had to talk to her as soon as she could. To sort this all out.

As soon as possible.

Because if Maggie really wanted more than Alex wanted to drag her into a supply closet and kiss her breathless.

Because if Maggie wanted to try this then Alex wanted to try too.

Possibly.

Possibly. Because she wasn’t really sure she was ready to start again, to start a new relationship. I mean, she and Dani hadn’t been officially together for a couple years but Dani was really all she’d known. At least since high school. Because she’d met Dani when Krypton was starting up. She’d been there from the start and she’d been there through it all, well, most of it anyway. Of course they’d had some… Disagreements… But for most of the last four years it had been Dani and Alex. Alex and Dani. And now she wasn’t so sure.

Anticipation was starting to fill Alex up, to drive her towards wanting to explore this freedom she now had. Whether with Maggie or not, she wasn’t sure yet. She was willing to give it a shot but, of course, she wasn’t the only one involved in this. So she’d have to talk to Maggie first, and she was really, really looking forward to it now.

“Hey.” Alex said as their meeting was adjourned grabbing Maggie’s arm as Kara, James, and Winn were heading off to finishing setting up before sound check. “I need to ask you something. You hesitated. When you said one night. You hesitated. What was that about?”

“Alex I- I don’t know.” Maggie replied, her voice hushed as she pulled Alex around the corner into quiet hallway so they could talk freely, knowing where she was going with this. Alex wasn’t going to hesitate like Maggie had, she didn’t want any subtext to be brought up. She wanted to be clear about this.

“Maggie. Do you want this? Us?”

“I can’t… I can’t date you. But I mean- I don’t know.” Maggie said, seemingly caught off guard over the question. One night. It was just one night. Not that it wasn’t one of the absolute best nights of her life. But still. One night.

“Why not?” Alex asked, clearly wanting a better answer than “I don’t know”. She waited, patiently, for Maggie to reply. Because if this was going to happen, then communication was going to be important. Very important.

“I’m not good at it. But I would love to continue this… Whatever this is. Say, hmmm… Friend with benefits style?” Maggie suggested, getting that laid-back attitude back Alex was so used to. Alex laughed at the idea but considered it. Just sex? With Maggie? She could totally do that.

“Let me think about it, yeah?” Alex suggested, stepping forward a little and offering Maggie a little smile. Maggie nodded and stepped forward too, looking up at the taller girl whose eyes seemed to be sparkling with lust. “Okay. Hang back for me tonight after the show. We can talk again then.”

Maggie knew Alex’s answer already though. Alex didn’t need to think about it, she’d already said yes to Maggie’s proposition through her body language. That’s why Maggie pulled her in by the belt and kissed her. Because she’d missed that kiss, Alex was damn good at kissing. So she kissed her hard and quick, running her tongue across Alex’s bottom lip but stepping back as Alex opened her mouth to deepen the kiss.

She stepped back and smirked, winking as she turned around to head to stage.

“You’re an asshole Sawyer” Alex called after her, laughing as she jogged to catch her, hands shoved in her pockets as she joined the bassist in her very determined walk towards sound check.

Maggie pinched Alex’s ass as she grabbed her bass guitar and plugged it in, not bothering with anything other than that before sauntering on stage. She looked for Kara’s cue to start and played when she needed to, hearing Alex start on the drums, having followed behind her.

The show that night was a little different than their usual gigs, which happened to be at bars and warehouse-like venues where there was only standing room.

That night Krypton played in a corral wherein the seating went up around the edges as per a normal stadium, although the size was much smaller. It tripped Maggie out when she ran on stage, realizing that instead of having a crowd below then, they’d be stared at from all angles. She was so frozen at the realization, which shouldn’t have been a huge deal that Alex ran into her; she hadn’t been paying attention as she, too, ran on stage.

“Mags what the hell?” Alex said, side-stepping the stumbling bassist to take her seat at her drums. Alex watched as Maggie walked over to her in a kind of daze. “Maggie, what’s going on?”

“I’ve never played a stadium venue.” Maggie confessed, shaking her head out and locking eyes with Alex. “There’s seats everywhere…” Alex didn’t seem to quite know what to respond to that, so she just laughed at the awe-struck look on Maggie’s face.

Sound check was short that day, the gear having been set up for them, and the set list pretty much cemented at this point in the tour. The band then decided to just hang out together before the show, not really having much to do in Boise, Idaho after all. Winn suggested they hit up a bar after the show, something the rest of the band agreed to. But that was hours and hours away. They had a few hours before the show and then, of course, the show itself, to get through before the party started.

Alex, as per usual when they had a few hours to spare, grabbed her longboard from the bus and took a ride through the surrounding streets of the venue; Maggie followed her outside, sitting on the curb out the back where there bus was as she watched Alex ride up and down the parking lot.

“Sawyer! Grab your scooter, let’s go!” Alex said as she rode past her at one point, nodding towards the main street not far from them.

Maggie had always wanted to learn how to longboard properly, and maybe one day she’d ask Alex to teach her, but for now she stuck to her razor scooter and the sick tricks she’d learned in high school with Frankie and Owen.

They’d spent most of their junior year out at the skate part every weekend, getting better and better with their scooters, which they’d decided to pick up, wanting to be a little different from the skaters at the park. Whether that was because they subconsciously knew they were different so they pushed the limits of that, or just because they all figured it was something a little easier they could learn together, Maggie never knew. But either way they’d spent hours and hours at that old skate park, getting better at the scooter tricks they’d seen at the X-games on TV.

So yes, she was really good, and she and Alex had fun with their wheels, although Maggie was the trickster. Alex was good, yes, but she much preferred to use her longboard as a mode of transportation rather than a tool to show off, that had never been her style.

Maggie ran into the bus and scooped up her scooter, practically jumping out the door and landing on it as she pushed off to meet Alex, who was already a half a block down the street. She knew exactly what Alex had in mind, as the drummer had mentioned a local ice cream shop which Maggie found kind of hilarious considering their history with the food.

She laughed as she zoomed past and scared Alex, who’d not been going crazy fast as to wait for Maggie. Alex, in turn, began pushing harder, crouching down to gain as much momentum and speed as she could, easily matching Maggie’s speed a few seconds later, sticking her tongue out at her.

“Try this, Danvers.” Maggie said, coming up to a railing on the side of the sidewalk, popping up to grind the few feet it spanned, smirking to herself when she nailed it, having showed off a little with a 360 spin at the end of it, falling right back in line with Alex, who was rolling her eyes, not unfamiliar with Maggie’s talent.

“Show off.” Alex replied, speeding up to try to shake Maggie, having no luck as Maggie just sped up too, laughing at the sour look Alex was wearing now, clearly frustrated that she didn’t have the ability to grind rails on her longboard. “You’re buying!”

“Hey no fair, I shouldn’t be reprimanded because I’m better than you.” The complaint came as they slowed down and hopped off their “vehicles” to march into Huckleberry’s Ice Cream shop, Maggie already pulling out her wallet and shoving Alex’s back into the girl’s pocket, happy to treat her bandmate to a treat. “You’re just lucky I’m a nice person.”

“Yeah, okay, you keep thinking that way” Alex said, scoffing at Maggie but her heart warming at the constant banter they seemed to engaged it. It was always so genuine, so easy. It was, really, what she and Dani hadn’t had in a long, long time. She missed it, but bantering with Maggie was so much more fun, they played off each other better than she and Dani ever had. The worker at the shop asked them both what they’d like, Alex replying first with “Rocky road for me please.”

Maggie payed for both of the double scoops, having chosen mint chocolate chip for herself, and then followed Alex outside to one of the many benches that were provided for customers. They were chatting away when Alex noticed a couple girls quite blatantly starting at them. She nudged Maggie, who looked over toward where Alex was nodding, smirking at the two girls, who’d whipped their heads back around and seemed overly interested in their phones now.

“Should we?...” Maggie asked, raising an eyebrow as she contemplated even finishing her question. Alex nodded, knowing that if she’d been too shy to approach a musician when she was their age, she’d have greatly appreciated them taking time to come say hi. Alex got up first, offering a hand to help Maggie up and then scooping up her board, walking casually over to the girls, who were sat side by side at a picnic table.

They walked over, laughing loudly together when the two girls went to steal another looking and got scared at the fact that both Alex and Maggie were walking right towards them. They sat down together across from the two girls, who’s both gone bright red by that time, both embarrassed and awestruck at the fact that two members of their favourite band were sitting across from them eating ice cream.

“So, you two coming to the show tonight?” Maggie asked, opening up the conversation when she thought the girls had calmed down enough to speak again. The shorter one, who had blonde hair, not unlike Kara’s, pulled back in a bun, spoke first, after taking a deep breath.

“Yeah. We’re going with a couple guy friends.” She said, her knee bouncing giddily as Alex and Maggie both nodded along as they listened. The other girl, her hair up in a bun as well, although skin tone and hair colour matching Maggie’s this time, didn’t seem to be able to speak at all, her mouth agape as she kept looking in between Alex and Maggie respectively.

“Oh yeah? That’ll be fun. Concerts are always more fun when there’s a group of you. Are they your boyfriends?” Alex said next between licks of her ice cream cone, eyeing the quieter girl now, hoping to include her in the discussion. Her tactic worked, as the blonde girl poked her friend’s arm to get her to talk.

“Well Courtney’s boyfriend, Kyle, is coming. But Sam and I are just friend.” She offered quietly, swallowing hard as if she wasn’t sure whether or not to say what she wanted next. The blonde, Courtney, nudged her a little and whispered a soft “it’s okay Jane. Of all people to tell, it’s okay.” Maggie and Alex caught on then, but stayed quiet and attentive, letting Jane tell them what she wanted to on her own terms. “Um… Well I’m gay so…”

“Hey, welcome to the club!” Maggie said, reaching out and squeezing Jane’s hand briefly, realizing by the look in the girl’s eyes that she may well have just imploded at the touch. She chuckled to herself and pulled her hand back, giving Jane space again. “Congrats Jane.”

“Thank you…” Jane muttered, her eyes completely lit up now. Courtney, meanwhile, was absolutely beaming at her friend, seemingly proud beyond words, tossing an arm around Jane, who spoke up again. “We were actually really looking forward to meeting you guys after the show.”

“Yeah, Jane especially wanted to meet you two.” Courtney chimed in, laughing as Jane’s cheeks flushed red. “Is the band life really as cool as it looks?” Both Alex and Maggie went to answer at the same time, leading to laughs from all four of them now. Alex ended up taking the question.

“Short answer? Yes.” Alex replied easily, shrugging a little at the answer. “But you miss your bed and your friends back home too, so it can get long. But I wouldn’t change it for anything, I love touring.”

After a short talk about the apparent fascinating world of being a musician and a couple more topics, Alex and Maggie were bidding Courtney and Jane goodbye, both of their cones long gone by then. They signed a couple things and took a half dozen photos each, more than happy to commemorate their little impromptu meet and great for the two girls. And then they were racing back to the venue, knowing that if they were even ten minutes late that they’d get a strong worded lecture from J’onn.

The pair arrived just in time, sprinting into the green room and throwing themselves down on the couch, panting as the rest of Krypton just rolled their eyes. J’onn walking in mere seconds after they’d both taken a seat and were still trying to level their breathing. If he noticed he said nothing, just glad that all five of his musicians were present for his regular pre-show speech about how the night was going to go.

Their shows always ran the same schedule, but the differences in venue, security, and meeting fans were always slightly varied city to city, so he liked to make sure all of them understood what was going to be going on. J’onn was nothing is not prepared to tackle any situation, and gave instruction not unlike someone who was head of, say, military operations, would.

Krypton filled the stadium with more energy than the place had probably seen in years, the ground almost vibrating with the bass and the jumping from the fans, all of them standing up, regardless if they “technically” had a seat or not. Kara had a way with that, getting everyone up on their feet and jamming to their music, following the lead to hop around like she always did on stage.

That was one thing they all loved about their fan base, their crazy attitude when it came to their music. They were almost seen as one of those bands that pounded a sense of adrenaline into every fan at every show. And Kara, Winn, James, Maggie, and Alex all absolutely loved it. They adored the idea that not matter any differences their fans had, whether that be age, race, disability, sexuality, that they were all left at the door. That when you went to a Krypton concert everyone was welcome and everyone was celebrated, and everyone was loved.

Stage door came and went smoother than almost any other show had previously. All of the fans were very, very cordial and patient with the band, waiting their turn and not taking up too much time, knowing how many more people were waiting to see them. Alex and Maggie who, as per usual, stuck together during the meet and greets, ran into Courtney and Jane again, smiling and hugging them both tightly again as they had that afternoon, the two girls positively beaming at the fact that they’d been remembered and then promptly introducing both Kyle and Sam to them.

After a long hour of meeting fans, they were off towards their motel for the night, a last-minute luxury they’d scored that morning, the manager of a motel close to the venue being a huge fan of the band and offering them beds for the night free of charge. None of them minded sleeping on the bus, but having their own space was certainly nice.

After packing up instruments they made their way over together, Maggie snagging Alex’s arm to hold her back as the other three shuffled off the bus with their duffle bags, yawning after the long night, ready for bed and not noticing when Alex and Maggie hung back, sleep already on all of their minds.

“So.” Maggie said, crossing her arms as Alex shut the door, forgetting that Maggie had wanted to carry on their conversation from earlier in the day until that moment. “What’s it going to be? Friends with benefits?” Alex chuckled and contemplated a little before shrugging.

“Yeah, okay, deal.” She said, smirking as Maggie’s eyes lit up, that ever-so-famous cheeky look spreading across her face. “But motels only okay? And I don’t really want Kara finding out, she’d blow a fuse.” Maggie nodded in agreement, grabbing Alex’s wrist and dragging her towards her room again, because it was closer than Alex’s was, not because she cared where they slept.

Maggie unlocked the door and let Alex in, who threw her bag down just inside, pulling Maggie in by her belt loops and kissing her hard, laughing as the shorter girl stumbled a little as she followed Alex, shutting the door with a foot behind her.

Maggie struggled with the zipper on her combat boots but once those were off they were ripping clothes and walking backwards together towards the soft bed in the centre of the room, rarely breaking contact from the rash kissing and wandering hands; the pair relishing in the skin contact and the intimacy that was now going to be something they could regularly enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that rounded things up a little from last chapter. Wanted to make this one serious and light-hearted at the same time! 
> 
> As always if you have any questions at all feel free to comment below or you can reach wither of us on our social media which is lister as per usually. Thanks for sticking around!
> 
> Andrea's fun fact of the day: When hippos are upset, their sweat turns red. 
> 
> Nat  
> twitter: @nerdalert_nat  
> tumblr: nat-on-the-run
> 
> Andrea  
> twitter: @sauerkraus14  
> tumblr: love-freeely
> 
> Artwork:http://archiveofourown.org/collections/SanversBigBang/works/12452580  
> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1248112821/playlist/2TBkvx0co107m1o4TeC83r


	7. Ground Rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vegas baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating because we're actually in the same place, aND DATING (yes, for real, we're dating)
> 
> Hope you enjoy the new chapter, cheers

The air was warm, nothing but a soft breeze drifting through the open window.

The light was gentle, glowing as the sun was rising on a new day.

The touch was soft, fingers drawing circles across her abdomen, tender, as not to wake her.

“Good morning.” Maggie mumbled, feeling Alex’s hand still on her skin in surprise before continuing its motion, a soft hum escaping Maggie’s lips as she kept her eyes shut and just enjoyed the moment. She could’ve stayed like that forever; waking up to Alex Danvers treating her gently, treating her right. It was perfect. It was almost like… No. No she couldn’t let herself get caught up in this.

She’d told herself long ago that she was done with the dating scene. And besides, as much as she loved this moment, she knew their arrangement. She knew that she and Alex were nothing more than bandmates and fuck buddies. And that was okay.

That was okay.

She could still enjoy it, she just had to make sure it never left the bedroom, to make sure to remember that this arrangement was strictly pleasure. Pleasure and maybe a little extra. Pleasure and maybe a little tenderness the morning after. But that’s it.

Alex spoke next, taking a deep breath of morning air before she did so. Maggie was expecting the classic duck-out line, something that usually came with a secret friends with benefits relationship or a one night stand. But no, Alex surprised her once more.

“You have another tattoo.” Alex said, fingers now moving to brush across the side of Maggie’s right rib, wherein a number twelve was branded in black ink. Maggie nodded slowly, keeping her eyes closed and waited for the question she knew was coming. “What’s it for?”

“Is this going to be a thing? Talking about tattoos after we sleep together?” Alex laughed with her over that, not having realized that Maggie had asked her almost the exact same question a few days ago. “But yeah, I have another one. I got it when I was nineteen.” Maggie finally opened her eyes then and turned her head sideways, breath hitching as she looked at a naked Alex Danvers staring up at her, eyes curious and hair a little ruffled. _God, how can she be so beautiful this early?_ She thought to herself. “My high school girlfriend was on the volleyball team. Right side hitter. She was number twelve.” 

“Look at you go. Getting a jersey number tattooed.” Alex replied, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to the tiny tattoo. “It’s cute. Sorry things didn’t work out between you two.” Maggie appreciated the comment. She did, really. But she knew that the comment insinuated a story. And there was so much to that story that Alex didn’t know. So much that she wasn’t really ready to relive, wasn’t ready to tell Alex. So she just went with the basics.

“Her name was Leah. Leah Davis. We dated all of senior year and a little into her first year of college.” Maggie explained. Trivial details really, but it was enough. “Her brother taught me how to play the drums.”

“Ahhh, so that’s where the mystery talent comes from.” Alex said, dropping the subject after that to ask if Maggie wanted Alex to start a pot of coffee for her as she left.

Maggie knew Kara was going to be waiting on Alex for breakfast and she respected that, she just hated that their morning was coming to an end already. It was the best night’s sleep and the best wake up she’d had in longer than she can remember. Maybe since Leah.

“Yeah, sure, thanks.” Alex was up as soon as the words had been said, leaving Maggie in bed alone, sheets pulled down to rest just above her hip bones.

Alex was a sight for sore eyes, the sunlight drifting through the shear curtains hitting her curves in just the right way. She was absolutely stunning really. Maggie was lucky. Lucky to not only be friends with such a beautiful, sincere woman, but to have the chance to see her in this kind of light.

Maggie watched her get dressed from the bed, craning her neck a little but not sitting up. She watched Alex get dressed and start a pot of coffee and pull on her vans, winking at Maggie as she slipped silently out of the room.

Alex, meanwhile, had gone back to her room to try and make it look a little messy. She pulled the covers back and tried to wrinkle them up a bit before half-ass making the bed again, so it at least looked like she slept there. And then she was actually getting ready for the day; getting dressed properly, putting on her usual makeup, and brushing her teeth quickly.

Kara was knocking on her door not ten minutes later, as Alex was lacing up her shoes and putting all her toiletries back into her overnight bag she took into motels with her. She swung the door open to let Kara in and grabbed her things as they walked out to the tour bus together, wanting to drop their belongings off before heading out for breakfast.

“I was on Instagram last night after the show liking photos and such” Kara started as they finally started walking down the block. “There’s a café a few blocks away that looks absolutely adorable.”

“Yeah. Yeah okay.” Alex said, yawning and running a hand through her still-messy hair, trying to tame it.

“Didn’t you go to bed right after we got in last night?” Kara asked, eyebrows furrowed as she watched a clearly exhausted Alex walk beside her, groggily turning her head to acknowledge what Kara had said. “You didn’t answer my texts until this morning, why are you so tired?”

“Oh. Uh...” She started, reeling through possible excuses for being tired while feigning having slept all night. “Just a bad sleep you know? The people next door were noisy. Probably having sex or something, that’ll keep someone up.” Alex settled on, laughing to herself a little at the last comment, hoping Kara wouldn’t catch on.

“Well I guess you can sleep on the bus, long way to Vegas today.”

“Vegas. Right.” Alex said, more to herself than anyone as Kara was excitedly dragging Alex into the café they’d now arrived at.

Vegas.

They’d probably get drunk and gamble, they usually did when they were out in Sin City. Which meant Alex was going to have to be sober or be very aware of her actions around Maggie, not wanting to give anything away. Knowing Maggie would have a similar mindset because of their “keep this a secret” rule, but the worry was there anyway. Alex didn’t trust herself enough when she was drunk to keep her hands off the girl; the gorgeous girl with amazing hair and incredible brown eyes. Eyes you could get so lost in, so captivated by that the rest of the world just melted away. And that smile, oh man that smile was something else, it was-

“Alex come on! What do you want?” Kara was asking, loudly, as she shoved Alex out of her daydream, leaning over to the barista to whisper “She gets caught up in her head a lot...”

“Flat white.” Alex said, shaking her head out and focusing on the moment rather than the future. She usually had her coffee black in the bus, but when she was out she always treated herself to her favourite drink. Kara ordered nothing more than a hot chocolate, having more than enough energy than to need caffeine on top of that.

Kara paid for both of their drinks, not even bothering to worry about it, they always paid for little things like this for each other. And then the pair of them took a seat in the back of the café by a massive window overlooking a busy street. Alex knew Kara was wanting to ask her something, to talk to her about what happened between Dani and herself. And Alex, tried of just brushing it off, decided to let her.

“Have at it Kara.” Alex said, leaning back uncomfortably in the steel chair, feeling the sunlight hit her face as the morning sun streamed through the window.

“What happened with you and Dani?” Kara asked. Straight to the point, not taking shortcuts, as per usual. It was something Alex’s sister had come to develop after years in the music industry; if you were vague you never got where you wanted to get. So bluntness was not only encouraged, it was widely recognized. She guessed that’s why so many artists came across as arrogant and self-cantered. But it was the way the business worked, and it was hard to untangle that from personal and non-professional relationships.

“I was tired of being far away all the time.” Alex told her slowly, gauging every word based on Kara’s micro expressions. “I wanted more. I mean… I want more. I want to find someone who treats me better, who is there when I need them. Dani wasn’t that. Besides, we haven’t been serious in a long time, you know that.”

“Okay but didn’t you guys just make up?” Kara asked, referring to the argument they’d had the other night. Sure, they’d made up. But it was half-assed, it always was. Dani apologized without meaning it and Alex crawled back because Dani was all she’d known since they’d gotten to LA four years ago. It was a back and forth constantly. So, yes, they’d made up. But they’d fallen out a long, long time ago.

Alex shrugged and finished off her coffee before replying, trying to formulate an answer that Kara would be content with without blowing her and Maggie’s cover. It was a complicated situation because she wanted to tell Kara that Maggie had opened her eyes. Maggie had been gentle and forgiving, Maggie had been everything that Alex hadn’t seen in Dani in years.

But she couldn’t. Because her and Maggie? Still a secret. Still something just between them. So whatever her explanation for ending it with Dani, whatever lie she hissed, wouldn’t even come close to convincing.

“We haven’t been fine a long time. Not since she first came to Brooklyn.” Alex told her, shaking her head at the memories that burned her mind still. The memories she wanted so desperately to forget. “Long story short is that I was just tired of feeling unimportant.”

“And there’s not someone in particular that made you realize that?”

“No.” Alex was firm on this. She was firm and direct. She was being a musician, she was being blunt, and she was saying what Kara needed to hear. “We should go, bus leaves soon.”

“Alex-” Kara started as Alex got up and started walking away, cut off before she could even start. It wasn’t what Alex wanted to avoid the subject, but it was what she had to do. At least for now. Because all this friends with benefits thing she had going on with Maggie was still new; they were still testing the waters of it all. So maybe she’d tell Kara one day, but she wanted to be sure about this before that day came. She wanted to know that this wasn’t just some two-week stunt they pulled idiotically.

Alex immediately swung into her bed when she and Kara got back to the tour bus. They had a long drive to make it down to Las Vegas. A long drive followed by a night of drinking and gambling. Obviously. What else would a rock band do on their night off in Sin City?

Because of the early start, Alex fell asleep pretty quickly when she got back in bed, the Deadpool comic she’d been reading open across her chest as she snoozed until nearly lunch time. It was Winn’s hollering at James beating him in Super Smash Bros that woke her up with a start, swearing loudly when her jerky movements caused her to smack her head on the wall.

“Winn! Shut up!” She yelled from her bunk, hearing the entirety of Krypton laughing. She figured they must have heard the loud bump when she was woken up.

Grumpily, she swung out of bed, nearly colliding with Kara who was running down to her and James’s room to fetch something.

“Did no one ever tell you to be quiet when people are sleeping?” Alex asked, covering Winn’s eyes to prevent him from getting in the big hit he’d been waiting to use to take James out. He shoved her off and laughed again, ignoring Alex’s “fuck off, boys suck” to try to get back the upper hand in his game.

Rolling her eyes, the drummer sulked over to the “kitchen” to scavenge for any food that may be left behind in their tiny fridge. There wasn’t usually much besides coffee cream and a couple apples because they ate out so much. But that day she managed to score a couple slices of pizza.

“Danvers, aren’t you going to warm that up?” James asked, raising an eyebrow as Alex looked him right in the eye and chomped down defiantly. Alex heard Maggie laughing at the action, seeing her in her periphery before taking a seat across from her at their table.

Maggie leaned forward and opened her mouth to steal a bite after Alex had offered one to her, sitting back with an even bigger smirk on her face as James furrowed his eyebrows again.

“Face it James, you just have poor taste in food. Cold pizza is the fucking bomb.” Maggie offered, shrugging and pulling her phone out again, leaning forward to scroll through it.

The rest of the ride went pretty normally. James and Winn played video games for a couple hours while Kara, Maggie, and Alex chatted away in the back room. Mostly about music, but throwing in a little interest as to what to do in Vegas that night and the next morning before their radio spot. Eventually it was Alex and Maggie going head to head on Super Smash Bros, having stolen the only two controllers from the boys who were seeming to get a little uninterested. That lasted a few rounds, the rest of the band betting on winners and egging the girls to pick different characters, challenging to battle it out in different settings too. It was pretty typical banter between the five of them. Always having fun when they could spare it. And then as the room went silent Kara spoke up.

“I have a couple riffs” She said, sparking everyone’s interest. “I was thinking we could try and lay down some lyrics before we start pre-drinking. What do you think?”

“Already??” James asked, smiling brightly and already reaching for the guitar he kept on the bus. “We just finished an album.”

“Never too early to start up again, c’mon Olsen.” Alex teased, winking as she turned off the GameCube while the rest of the band picked up their instruments too, Winn having a small keyboard stashed away in the bunk below his. Alex watched them all, knowing that she couldn’t actually have a drum kit in the bus, but ready to give her input and play a few chords if needed.

Alex always loved the beginnings of a new song. Well, she loved the entire process, but the beginning was always her favourite part. Watching a new song take life, watching words string together and melodies flow in to back them was beautiful. Everyone was excited, everyone was writing, and everyone was trying new things. Writing new music was, to Alex, all about finding a new sound, a new way to share a story. It was about trying to pull five different experiences to create some sort of mash-up that worked on stage.

Often they ended up with lyrics that could make a song go on for a good ten minutes. And so they had to cut it, they had to refine it. Song writing was what made Alex love music more than anything. The shows were great, yes, but writing and expressing herself in that way was what really took the cake.

She’d always loved writing. Essays, narratives, poems. And so writing songs was almost bringing all of that together. It grounded her and made her realize that this, performing and having people share those stories with her, was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Because her writing, the most important thing to her, had changed lives, she’d been told that many times. So she’d always keep writing because sharing those words and those experiences was absolutely incredible.

By the time eight o’clock had rolled around and Krypton was about an hour outside of Vegas they’d gotten the entirety of the melody finished and were coming around to fitting in lyrics. It was a very heartfelt song, one of the slower ones they’d have. They’d named it Recovery and essentially it was about leaving a toxic situation and making a new life for yourself; in a way trying to create a new reality, starting from nothing. Maggie, Alex, and Kara had been the largest contributors this time, all three of them having run away from a life they didn’t want. Towards a silver lining that was just out of reach.

It was bound to be absolutely beautiful and haunting when they came to finishing it. Alex knew this from the way her and the other two girls had worked relentlessly at getting the sound right, and trying to perfect he message they were selling.

All three of them had run from home when they were young adults.

Alex and Kara having left Midvale to move to LA when Kara was a fresh high school graduate, having been trapped in the confines of very daunting parents and high expectations.

And Maggie had fled Blue Springs and her aunt after an incident involving someone very close to her. Of course the fact that she’d been disowned at 14 was huge, but fleeing Nebraska was a whole new journey, and that’s what she’d wanted to focus on.

In any case the entire band was very proud of the direction the song was going. Alex was sure they’d finish it within the next couple days. Which meant that they’d have officially started album three. Winn was handing out a round of beer now, having announced that there was no way they could roll in to Vegas sober.

And sober they were not. 45 minutes later their bus was parked up at the venue they were playing at the next night, the band sleeping on the bus that night, and the members were off to the casinos.

James took the lead, his height giving him the advantage on the alcohol, so he was the least tipsy as they pulled up to Caesars Palace as requested by Winn.

Kara was currently the most inebriated. She was not shy when it came to Tequila shots. Everyone had had a couple, but Kara had challenged herself to have twice as many as everyone else.

Alex had downed her Tequila like a champ, as always, and was currently in between tipsy and drunk. Ready for another drink to try to catch up with her sister.

Winn was laughing at everything. Literally everything. The dudes with the silly hats, the funny colours on the slot machines, and the bubbliness of coca cola.

Maggie was strong headed but clearly feeling the effects of the liquor. She was feeling very happy, linking arms with both Kara and Alex as they made their way through the casino towards the bar. She was loopy and smiling brighter than she normally did, obviously having a fantastic time. And she was gay. That she had mentioned many, many times. Alex had always thought it was hilarious how many times the tiny brunette had to mention that she was very, very gay when she’d been drinking.

She figured it was because if she announced it to the entire world that odds are some cute girl would come up and say “hey! Me too!” and they’d be able to have a fun night. But that night Maggie was a little out of it, less focused on the cute girls scattered across the casino and wanting to drink more with Alex. Always with Alex, she made that very clear.

The five of them hopped up on the bar stools and all shared another beer together before Kara dragged James to the poker tables and Winn was eyeing the slot machines as he got change in quarters, ready to “smash it” as much as you can with a complete game of chance.

“Alex.” Maggie said as soon as the others were well occupied. Alex turned to Maggie, who was much more drunk than she was, but still apparently rather cohesive.

“Maggie.” Alex reciprocated in the same tone, spinning her stool sideways like Maggie had so they were facing each other now.

“Kiss me.” She stated next, taking on the same serious tone as she had used to address Alex. Alex hesitated, crossing her arms over her chest to keep that barrier between them. She was wary about doing it. Not because she didn’t want to, because, fuck did she ever want to. But because Kara wasn’t far away and this wasn’t supposed to leave their motel bedrooms. “Kiss me Alex. We’re in Vegas and we’re a little drunk and I’m really gay and you’re really cute so, please, just kiss me.”

She didn’t though, not right away. Maggie was asking very clearly, but they were both still inebriated, even if only slightly. And anyone could see them… But did that really matter? I mean it had been Alex herself that had wanted to keep this all a secret, not Maggie. So if someone saw and they broke that pact, she knew Maggie wouldn’t care. She must have weighed the options too long though, because soon enough Maggie was sitting straight up again and cocking her head sideways.

“Alex?” She asked gently, breaking Alex’s thought process as they met eyes. And then Alex smiled softly and grabbed Maggie’s hoodie by the fistful, pulling her forward to kiss her. She felt Maggie smile brightly as she kissed her back, now sliding off her stool to step into Alex fully.

“Come with me.” Alex said as she hopped off her seat and slid her hand snugly into Maggie’s. She guided them through the crowded casino and towards the back corner, pinning Maggie to a wall just behind a large pillar, smiling brightly as she looked down at her. “God you’re hot.”

“I know.”

“Shut up and kiss me you idiot.” Alex replied, laughing into the kiss Maggie delivered without a second to waste, grabbing the back of Alex’s neck as she did so, not wanting to let her pull back again.

Their kiss was fire and ice, cold lips from cold drinks meeting in a fury of heat from desire, both of them losing any awareness of their surroundings, lost in each other. Feeling the rush of breath, the softness of skin, and the roughness of bodies yearning for more contact, Alex pushed Maggie harder into the wall she was still pinned against; her breath getting more and more ragged as Alex worked her like magic, knowing every dip and every curve of her body already, using that knowledge to her advantage.

“Ready?” Maggie said quickly between kisses after a few minutes, her eyes burning with that cheeky look Alex was all too familiar with.

Alex opened her mouth to ask what for, but was cut off, first from Maggie kissing her hard again and second by the two of them suddenly having switched places, her back hitting the hard wall now behind her instead of Maggie. She just shook her head and laughed, bringing their lips back together and letting Maggie take the lead she so clearly wanted.

For some reason, maybe it was the vibe Vegas gave off, Maggie was feeling particularly reckless that night. And so, after having paused with her hand on Alex’s belt buckle and getting the go-ahead, Maggie was sliding her hand down Alex’s pants, hearing her partner groan as she made contact with her. She smiled and moved her kissing across Alex’s jaw and down to her neck, sucking on it a little harder than she might normally, not really caring about leaving a mark.

Her hand worked its way past her underwear quickly, Maggie not one to waste time when the law was on the line, sliding a finger slowly into Alex and having to hold Alex up strongly with her free arm as Alex’s knees lost their ability to hold her up for a couple seconds.

“I- Maggie.” Alex rasped, pulling their mouths back together and kissing Maggie hard to suppress the moan she was holding back, hands tangling in Maggie’s long hair as she did, her hips shifting forward slightly. “More.” Given the word, Maggie wasted no time, pulling Alex closer but pulling her hand out of Alex’s pants, getting a frustrated whine in return. Maggie smirked but didn’t reply, simply just guiding Alex through a mess of crowds again, towards an even darker little hideaway she’d taken note of early that night.

And then it was game on again as they had a little more privacy around the corner from the main casino area, out of view unless someone was clearly snooping around for something. Alex was hastily pulling Maggie back, craving the touch of the girl once more, her arousal having only grown with the lack of contact. Having gotten the message very quickly, Maggie was back in a fury of skilled hands and roaming lips, taking advantage of every inch of exposed skin she could get to. She followed Alex’s lead, matching her thrusts with ease, using her hips to give her that extra leverage.

Alex’s eyes were rolling back into her head as she felt Maggie everywhere; a hand in her pants, another up her shirt, her mouth making its way across her neck and collarbones, her body holding her up in every sense of the word. Taking care of every need she had without a thought, having picked up on Alex’s body language and working with all of it to send Alex on a blissful pleasure trip.

It didn’t take long for Alex to hit her orgasm, her knees actually giving out this time, leaving Maggie to hold her up against the cold wall, still finishing Alex off, not one to half-ass anything, especially not making any girl feel absolutely amazing. The kissing slowed after then, deepening as they both recovered, staying fully pressed against each other in the small space Maggie had dragged them to.

Breathless but happier than she had been in a long time, Alex really tried to enjoy the moment they were in, enjoying Maggie’s presence and their closeness. She leaned her forehead down to rest on Maggie’s, closing her eyes and running gentle hands down Maggie’s arms and around her waist. It was the kind of quick, slow moment that Alex would remember, it was a moment that was anything but ordinary really. It was beautiful and it was perfect. And Alex never wanted it to end.

“That…” Maggie started, getting lost in kissing Alex again, relishing in the tenderness she brought, before starting again. “That broke our ground rule of hotel rooms only…”

“Yeah I don’t really give a shit about that right now honestly.” Alex replied with a smile, tucking a strand of hair behind Maggie’s ear. “Besides, we don’t have a hotel room for a few nights and I definitely need to make that up to you soon.”

“No complaints here.” Maggie smiled, leaning up again to kiss Alex once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw: drunk Maggie is drunk Andrea, I wrote this chapter when she was drunk and it was hilarious  
> ~Nat 
> 
> Hello all of our lovely readers, here's your fun fact for the day: the medical name for butt crack is intergluteal cleft  
> ~Andrea
> 
> Nat  
> twitter: @nerdalert_nat  
> tumblr: nat-on-the-run
> 
> Andrea  
> twitter: @sauerkraus14  
> tumblr: love-freeely
> 
> Artwork:http://archiveofourown.org/collections/SanversBigBang/works/12452580  
> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1248112821/playlist/2TBkvx0co107m1o4TeC83r


	8. Game Changer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Maggie working through some problems with their arrangement and working towards making it all work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait guys but I promise this story isn't over yet. Here's another chapter for you and I hope to get back to writing again. It's been a busy few months with school and a new job for the summer... Anyway hope you enjoy!!  
> ~Nat
> 
> Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait, my beautiful girlfriend and I have been very busy, hopefully you can forgive us! Fun fact of the day: if you consistently fart for 6 years & 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb!  
> P.S. feel free to talk to me on any social media, I love meeting people!  
> ~Andrea

_“Alzheimer’s is a bad disease. We should cure it.”_

_“12 hours of work right there”_

“Are you seriously watching Grey’s Anatomy again?” Maggie asked Alex as she tumbled out of bed the next morning, the headache that had woken her up screaming at the sudden movement. “How can you even stand looking at blood and guts right now Danvers?”

“I have my hangover methods, you have yours, don’t hate.” Alex replied dryly, sipping from the Gatorade in her hand as she nursed something with an ice pack on her neck. Maggie rolled her eyes and started the coffee pot, knowing that caffeine was the only thing that even came close to helping.

She sat down next to Alex on the couch and reached forward, hesitating when Alex eyed her hand approaching. When the drummer said nothing she reached for Alex’s hand that held the ice pack, pulling it away slowly and then laughing loudly at the nice hickey that lay underneath.

“Oops.” Was all she said as Alex glared at her and snapped the ice back to her neck. How much of an effect it’d have on a hickey this size, she didn’t know, but it was worth a try.

“Where is everyone else?” Alex asked, not having bothered to check as she’d gone straight for the Gatorade when she woke up to help the nausea and headache. Maggie shrugged but looked backwards, seeing that both Winn’s curtain and Kara and James’s door was closed. It was still pretty early, just past seven thirty, so she rightfully assumed they were still in bed.

“Sleeping looks like, why?” She asked Alex, taking a long sip of her black coffee, not caring that it was burning her throat, needing the caffeine too much to care.

“Let’s go for a walk.” Alex replied, pausing Grey’s Anatomy and shutting the TV off, getting up to grab some shoes and a hoodie before Maggie could even answer.

Without much of a choice, Maggie groaned and hauled herself off the couch again, pulling on sweatpants over her boxers and not caring that she wore nothing but a t-shirt on her torso, sliding her feet into untied combat boots and following Alex outside into the already scorching Vegas heat. Alex started walking as Maggie closed the door, still gripping onto both the ice and the Gatorade.

“What’s up?” Maggie asked as they got a few yards away from the bus, raising an eyebrow as she glanced over at a grumbling Alex, who lowered her arm and pointed to the hickey.

“This can’t happen again.” Alex said clearly, stopping to face Maggie to heighten the effect of her serious statement. Maggie smirked again and shrugged, agreeing silently. “I’m serious Maggie, I don’t want to make this any more complicated than it is. This only works if we keep it between us, it’ll get out if anyone else finds out. And that’s the last thing we need in the press right now.”

“I mean I don’t know dude, maybe the fact that we’re sleeping together would help with the whole sleeping with fans thing…” Maggie tried, starting to walk again and hearing Alex join her after a few seconds of hesitation. She knew Alex was going to go off at her so she followed-up. “I’m kidding, Danvers, before you say anything. But I can’t promise I won’t mark you up, it’s not exactly something I’m consciously thinking about when I have a beautiful girl giving me the kind of attention you did last night.”

“I- Mag- not the point.” Alex stuttered, her cheeks flushing the slightest bit pink at Maggie’s comment. But she held her ground and continued anyway. “Okay find then, no marking above the neckline then okay? Nothing visible. Everything that’s easily covered by clothes is free reign. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Okay good. Want me to abide by that as well?” Alex asked, putting the ice back on her neck, actually looking around at the minimal scenery the desert offered them, getting bored rather quickly but continuing to avoid looking at Maggie. Because they were friends. And friends didn’t stare.

“I don’t care.” Maggie shrugged, finishing off her coffee and yawning. “I like it anyway, it feels good so I really don’t mind being marked up. It’s not suspicious on me anyway so whatever. Besides, I couldn’t stop you when you’re in the moment, you’re crazy into it.”

“I am not!”

“You so are! Come on Alex, just admit it, I’m the best sex you’ve ever had. Not to brag or anything.” She teased, laughing when Alex shoved her sideways and mumbled a “fuck off” under her breath.

The rest of Krypton were just as hungover as Alex and Maggie, which did not bode well for their plans for the day. Although they didn’t have a show until the next evening, J’onn had set up a radio spot on Vegas’s most popular station as well as an interview with the venue they’d be at tomorrow, as the concert hall often released articles on the bands that performed there. So the five of them didn’t have much time to get over their throbbing headaches, exhausted bodies, and mild nausea because come 10am they were setting off.

J’onn met all five of them at the venue, a large stage attached to one of the largest radio stations in Vegas. This was going to be crucial for brand recognition and building up the fan base. He was very clear about the importance of what they would all say in regards to the questions to be asked, questions which he passed around to the band as he’d asked for the list they’d be following to allow the band to prep.

“Now don’t take it too seriously either, have fun and try to not get too caught up in the viewership.” He finished off with as they walked into the on-air booth, trying to lighten the mood after having come down hard about being careful about both language and how much information was revealed about any future plans or personal lives.

The entirety of Krypton took a seat and pulled on the massive headphones radio hosts always seemed to be sporting and sat quietly as their host, a lovely woman by the name of Emma, introduced the interview.

“And now here’s a little treat for everyone.” She said enthusiastically as the song that had been playing, one off of Krypton’s first album, faded out. “We have all five of the members of Krypton live and in studio! They’re a group of five rockers that are based out of Brooklyn, New York, who are stopped here for a show with us and have taken time out of their busy schedule to sit down and give us all the details about their newest album, Overhaul, their tour, and everything in between.

“So, welcome guys! It’s so nice to have you all here, I know many, many of your Vegas fans have been waiting for another concert date here for a long time. Happy to have you guys back, how’s the day treating you so far?” James took the lead.

“It’s been an easy morning.” He said, leaning forward to speak into the microphone in front of him. “We got in pretty late last night so we got to sleep in today, which has been much needed.”

“Well great, glad to hear that you all get some well-deserved rest from what I assume can be quite the crazy life.” Emma replied, looking down now at her set of questions for them all. “Okay let’s just dive right in then. How’s tour been going? From what I know this is your largest tour to date, yes?”

“Yes.” James continued, always one to have full knowledge about how their tours worked, having been one of the main coordinators in planning their route out. “It’s a huge tour, bigger than anything I ever could have imagined when we started out, to which I’m sure Kara and Alex will agree. It’s been great so far, the fans are absolutely incredible, we’re so very lucky to be able to meet them from coast to coast this time.” With a smile at James, Emma followed-up with a question that was warranted but not planned.

“Where did the name come from for this new album? Who came up with it?”

“Alex came up with it.” James said, giving a nod to Alex, who was sat at the end of the row to his right. She smiled and leaned forward.

“It comes from the concept of a rebuild for us.” Alex said, running a hand through her hair and taking a second to get the right words to explain her thought process with it. “As our fans know, in the last year and a half we let go of our old bass player, Brian. And we had to kind of decide how we wanted to move forward from that. Sure, we’d added people to the band before, bringing in Winn once we got to LA, and then Brian joining the crew soon after that.

“But this was a new type of situation for Krypton. Because instead of adding another layer of depth to our music, what we had established was being uprooted. So Brian leaving and then bringing Maggie on had been a period of finding ourselves again. And it’s been absolutely incredible and eye opening. So I pitched the idea of bringing that to light in the new album. One about new beginnings, a rebuild, an overhaul.”

The room went silent for a half second after Alex finished, everyone thoroughly impressed with the depth that Alex had provided with her answer. The honesty behind it hadn’t been something they’d been expecting from the answer, Alex was usually one to keep those vulnerable parts of herself private.

“Sounds like a good name then, a perfect fit for this new version of Krypton.” Emma said, looking down at her sheet again before continuing on her next breath. “How does this album contrast your first one, which was self-named?” Winn lifted up his hand, taking lead when no one protested his answering.

“Well, like Alex said, this album is a lot about growth.” He said, fiddling with the button on his shirt, having always been the most nervous when it came to interviews. “Krypton was about introducing the world of music to who we were, so we tried to pull different parts of our personalities and showcase them in the songs. Overhaul is a lot more about how to grow with other people, how those personalities mesh together to create a new piece of art. Of course some of the songs so have darker tones, which we found was important to have as well. Putting darker days on display allow for a rawness that you don’t always see in music. Our main goal from the beginning has been to stay authentic, and that’s what ties the two records together, and that’s something that won’t change.” Pleased with his answer and contribution, Winn leaned back in his chair again as Emma proceeded.

“In terms of song section for the album, how does that go?” She asked, having a nice accidental tie-in from Winn’s previous answer. Kara leaned forward to answer next as Emma finished the second half of her question. “What makes you decide to tell the stories that you do?”

“It’s a huge collaborative thing between us all” Kara started, looking around at the rest of the band, tearing up a little at it. “We find it important to write these songs together, to tell stories that are important, and to line them up in a way that makes sense. So we work together with the songs we select for the album and decide what fits best in terms of sounds and flow of the story each piece of music tells. It’s a rather long process with five opinions flying around, but it’s an enjoyable one.”

“To add on to that.” Maggie finally chimed in, still half-laughing at the perfect description Kara had given their “process” of album building. “What Winn mentioned about being authentic plays a big part in choosing orders for songs. So a lot of them appear in the order they were written, a journey of time within the album. Of course, a few don’t follow the exact timeline, but a lot of Overhaul does, as did Krypton I’ve been told.”

“Thanks for that guys, that was one of the most highly requested questions from our listeners.” Emma said, keeping her eye on Maggie, at who her next question was directed. “Maggie, how has your life changed since joining the band? Is there anything you miss about where you were before?”

“Um well… It’s been crazy, to say the least. But no, there’s not much I miss about where I was before, except the friends I made in Philly. I was working a minimum wage job trying to pump out a few gigs at dive bars if I could, but still living in a studio apartment. So joining Krypton really has been life changing for me, and I’m grateful every day for the opportunity that Alex, Kara, James, and Winn had given me with them. It’s been an absolute joy, and I most definitely consider them family now.”

Emma then took to the mic herself to let the listeners know that they were going to take a little break and be back again in a few minutes, hitting play on Car Wreck, the first single Krypton had released off of Overhaul, and then offered the band a coffee, to which they all said yes.

Maggie started chatting quietly with Kara then, who sat beside her on the left, Alex on her right. Simple small talk really, Alex joining in as they came to argue the topic of New York’s best pizza slice. Taking Kara’s side, Alex agreed with Price Street Pizza topping the list, while Maggie opted for Joe’s pizza claiming that there was just something about the joint that you couldn’t find anywhere else; it was classic New York pizza and they were delusional if they disagreed that it wasn’t the best.

After much bantering and no resolution Emma was rounding the band up again to answer the finals few questions the radio had prepared for them, also asking them if they could take on one or two from listeners that could call into the station. After J’onn approval, they agreed and Emma started with letting the listeners know that that would be coming up at the end of the band’s stay.

“Okay, two more questions for you guys before we get to the listeners questions.” Emma said, smiling brightly, “One big thing that surrounds your brand name is LGBT inclusivity. As we know, both Alex and Maggie, you two are gay, right?” Both the girls nodded to that question. “So my question in regards to that is what does it mean for you all to be advocates for the LGBT community? And how do you create those safe spaces for fans?” Maggie and Alex both leaned forward to take the question and then both leaned back, laughing as Maggie gestured for Alex to take it.

“It means the world to us that we’re able to be advocates for our community.” She started, looking around at her bandmates, who were all listening intently “We never want to shy away from the fact that we’re out and proud. I know that seems simple in theory, but in practice being publically out is still considered to be a political statement. So Maggie and I really make sure to be open and honest about experiences, to answer any questions interviewers such as yourself, or even our fans have on the matter.”

“It’s less about who we are and what we identify as and more about how we can help others see that being gay isn’t the end-all of your life. Our sexualities aren’t everything, we’re far more complex than that.” Maggie said next, leaning forward to build off of what Alex had been talking about. “And in terms of creating safe spaces, well, that kind of just happened. Our fan base knows that we don’t tolerate any hate and so any instances of that are met with repercussions by our security team. Our brand knows that everyone regardless of sexual orientation, ability, race, and age is welcome.”

“Very well said” Emma responded calmly, her usual bubbly personality taking a back seat as the importance of the question was discussed. “And finally: Moving forward as a band, what are some aspirations you have as a group?” James, again, took the question.

“Growth.” He said simply. “We want our music to grow and we’d love if our fan base grew with us. We love sharing our music and we hope that we can continue doing that in the future.”

“Short and sweet answer, I like it! Okay let’s take a question from a fan now, yes?” Emma opened up the phone lines and it was seconds before the first call came in.

“My question is for Alex and Maggie.” Said the fan, who sounded like a relatively young girl, probably in her late teens or early twenties. “How did the band dynamic change once you guys started dating?”

“Oh uh…” Alex mumbled, clearly thrown off by the question. Maggie smirked and leaned forward, knowing exactly how to smooth-talk their way out of this one, after getting pointed looks from the rest of the band.

“We’re not dating.” Maggie responded clearly. “The entire band is really close. Yes, Alex and I have common interests, but that doesn’t automatically lead to a relationship. She’s an amazing bandmate and friend, but we’re not dating, sorry.” Alex, still flustered, figured she should take point on it and tried again, failing miserably.

“Yeah… That- that’s it.” And with that Emma took the lead again, closing off the interview with that final awkward question, thanking them all for coming in and hitting play on a final Krypton song before everyone got up and shuffled out of the on-air booth.

Emma lead them down to the main lobby of the station then, giving them the information they needed for the lunch details they were to attend. The radio station had been running a contest with their listeners for a chance for ten of them to have lunch with Krypton, another twenty getting a meet and greet with the band after the first ten had been finished with lunch. And so, well informed, the five of them were lead into a large meeting room wherein waiting the ten big winners of the contests, all of them getting up and squealing a little as the band walked in. Kara greeted them all first, and once all ten of them had had their chance to get photos and chat with everyone from the band, the fifteen of them sat down for an easy hamburger meal.

They answered questions and played some music with the instruments provided in the room, having a great time with all of the contest winners and honestly getting to know them well. Although the radio station hadn’t offered ticket upgrades for the winner, J’onn himself offered to give them all front row tickets to the show the following night. Alex beamed at the excitement of the fans. She remembered herself being a music fan back in high school. She’d gone to countless concerts and had been just as excited every single time. And now, seeing people get excited over her own band, it was heartwarming to say the least. She felt honoured that there were people that loved their music the way she’d loved so many others.

With the lunch done Krypton headed to the meet and greet organized with the station with another twenty fans. Maggie was the first one to notice the handful of rainbow bracelets worn by some of the fans that were waiting, her face lighting up when she did see them, always loving the conversations that followed with LGBT fans.

As expected, the few that did have the pride colours were thrilled to talk to Alex and Maggie, who’d purposely stood together at the end of the line, allowing for longer conversations and individual photos. They had incredible discussions with all of them, the final two sticking around a little longer with Maggie and Alex as some press filed in to get some interviews in, the band apparently becoming quite the up and coming band. Kara, James, and Winn were already talking with some of the magazines that had arrived, letting Alex and Maggie take their time with the final two fans, two college-aged girls who were both excited and nervous to be talking to their idols. They were both journalism students, seemingly interested in getting into the music scene.

Asking them both all sorts of questions about the many interviews Krypton had done over the years, the two girls soaked up all the tidbits they could, knowing that this was a once in a lifetime chance to get up close and personal with musicians while still being students. Although the taller brunette was chattier, Maggie made sure to keep the more timid girl, Jana, in the loop as well as she could tell she was more nervous than her spunky counterpart.

Eventually the radio station was wanting them to wrap everything up, so Alex and Maggie could join the press conversations, knowing that the band didn’t have too much time to stay, J’onn being stern when it came to their scheduling. And so, the two girls bid Alex and Maggie goodbye as the interviewers approached the drummer and bassist. Alex turned to start talking first, while Maggie was giving both girls one last hug. She went to join Alex, reaching an arm out to feel for her bandmate to avoid running into her in the crowded room when she felt a tug on her other arm.

Maggie turned around to acknowledge the pull when all of a sudden Jana’s hands were on her face and pulling her down to kiss her, catching Maggie completely off guard. She froze in shock as her eyes shut automatically and she heard the unmistakable sounds of shutters capturing the moment. As if shaking her back into reality, the shutters continued, forcing Maggie’s mind back into overdrive as she pushed Jana off and stepped back.

Jana was pulled out of the room immediately, but the damage was done, Maggie knew this. They had the photos and there wasn’t much she could do about it now.

She glanced over at Alex, who simply sighed and turned back to her own interview, hearing another question being directed her way, leaving Maggie recover from the shock of the kiss. To deal with the sinking feeling that was growing in her chest. This whole situation she was in, with the hashtags running around twitter, with Alex and their arrangement, just got a whole lot more complicated. Because now there was no running from it, now the tabloids had their proof of Maggie’s apparent promiscuity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The playlist has been updated with a few new songs for you all to enjoy! Have a look and let us know what you think of everything!  
> Cheers,  
> N + A
> 
> Nat  
> twitter: @nerdalert_nat  
> tumblr: nat-on-the-run
> 
> Andrea  
> twitter: @sauerkraus14  
> tumblr: love-freeely
> 
> Artwork:http://archiveofourown.org/collections/SanversBigBang/works/12452580  
> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1248112821/playlist/2TBkvx0co107m1o4TeC83r


End file.
